Communication ETDs

Publication Date

Spring 5-18-2020

Abstract

This dissertation explores the experiences of self-identified Lesbian-Bisexual-Queer-Transgender (LBQT) women wearing U.S. clothing size 1x and up. Drawing on research within queer theory, fat studies, and Crip theory, the main goal of this study is to explore how these women engage in their embodied everyday performances of the body and identity, particularly through looking at relationship to body and self, intersectional complications, and navigation of physical and discursive space(s). Through analyzing their narratives collected in in-depth interviews, I find that fatness contributes to how people see desire for their selves and others, community, and space-taking. Additionally, within the narratives of the participants’ ideologies around white femininity, whiteness, fatness and privilege and internalized fatphobia are present and influential in how these women related to themselves and the world. Lastly, when considering everyday identity performance, notions of failure and success, relational understandings of queerness and then queerness as a political choice are significant to participants in understanding how their bodies and identities are read within the world.

Language

English

Keywords

LGBT, identity, fat studies

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Communication

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Department Name

Department of Communication and Journalism

First Committee Member (Chair)

Shinsuke Eguchi

Second Committee Member

Jaelyn DeMaria

Third Committee Member

Myra Washington

Fourth Committee Member

Shadee Abdi

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