The Dys-appearing Fat Body: Bodily Intensities and Fatphobic Sociomaterialities when Flying Whilst Fat

Colls, R; Evans, B; Bias, S

Abstract

This paper offers an exploration of the embodied experiences of flying whilst fat, based on research with a significantly larger group of people than any previous research on this topic (795 surveys and 28 interviews with fat people largely, though not exclusively from the USA). Theoretically, this paper advances geographical understandings of fat embodiment and the embodied experience of transport spaces which attend to micropolitical encounters and comfort (Bissell, 2016; 2008). In doing so, we develop an approach to understanding the hyperpresence of the fat body within plane space, drawing together Leder’s (1990) work on embodied ‘dys-appearance’ with Ahmed’s work on bodily intensities (2004) and queer phenomenology (2006). The paper explores how material and social aspects of plane space combine to make fat bodies hyperpresent in ways that, for some, limit self-advocacy. We set this in broader political and economic contexts which frame fatness as mutable and which govern access to air travel in ways that are exclusionary for many fat people.

Citation

Colls, R., Evans, B., & Bias, S. (2021). The Dys-appearing Fat Body: Bodily Intensities and Fatphobic Sociomaterialities when Flying Whilst Fat. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 111(6), https://doi.org/10.1080/24694452.2020.1866485

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 18, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Mar 2, 2021
• Publication Date: Mar 2, 2021
• Deposit Date: Dec 16, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 16, 2020
• Journal: Annals of the American Association of Geographers
• Print ISSN: 2469-4452
• Electronic ISSN: 2469-4460
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 111
• Issue: 6
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/24694452.2020.1866485
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1255345