Today in #FatStudyGroup, we are reading the first three chapters of Solovay, S. (2000). Tipping the scales of justice. Amherst, New York, USA: Prometheus Books.
Solovay opens the book by telling the story of Marlene Corrigan, a woman who was tried for felony child abuse/endangerment after her super fat child died (of unknown causes; an autopsy was not conducted).
Solovay suggests the criminal charges were unclear, and argues that “if the charges were based on the child’s weight, then the district attorney was unleashing a huge civil rights issue. The precedent would suggest that having a fat child was a crime” (p. 20).
In the second chapter, Solovay briefly reviews fat stigma and the discrimination that face people face (highlighting that many fat people experience an intersection of oppression). Solovay notes that anti-discrimination law is usually based on three premises:
It is wrong to discriminate against a person for a characteristic they cannot control; Capable people should not be prevented from contributing to economy & society; It may be wrong to discriminate when the result is an impingement on fundamental rights, freedoms, human dignity.
Fatness isn’t considered a protected category because of the belief that fatness is controllable. Solovay concludes the chapter by suggesting that “discrimination against fat people is the civil rights hurdle of the new millennium” (p. 29).
In the third chapter, Solovay explores the ways that fat children are denied societal resources and support for their development. There are no laws that protect them from discrimination or inaccessible public services.
They live in a world where strangers feel empowered and entitled to intervene in their lives (through advice, scorn, judgement – to removing them from the home), and where their educational setting is often incapable of providing them an accessible and safe environment.
Even within their home, fat children may not find unconditional love and support. “It is not that fat children are not loved by their parents once they arrive. Fat children absolutely can be and are loved by their families" (p. 37).
"Fat children absolutely can be and are loved by their families. But...the love covers a complicated truth—that they were not exactly what their parents had hoped for, envisioned, and dreamed about” (p. 37).
We will do the next three chapters tomorrow!
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