This book speaks to the politics of weight through an interrogation of dieting power and the
body. In feminist theory there is no greater site of contestation than that of the body and
Morris explores how these debates often become centred upon a dichotomy between oppression and
liberation. Whilst there is a vast diversity of scholarship that challenges this binary
including post-colonial post-structuralist and Marxist feminist work the dichotomy
nevertheless endures. The Politics of Weight argues that the ¿feminine¿ body is not simply a
site of oppression or liberation by drawing upon the intersections that exist between
Foucault¿s Discipline and Punish and post-structuralist feminist work on the body. This
provides a unique lens for exploring weight. Through in-depth analysis of interviews with women
who seemingly sit on either side of the ¿oppression¿ and ¿liberation¿ debate members of
dieting clubs and fat activists the book highlights the complexities that surround women¿s
relationship to weight and the body. Likewise it draws upon the wealth of black feminist
scholarship to explore the discourses surrounding Oprah Winfrey¿s dieting ¿journey ¿ seeking to
demonstrate how discipline and race interact and how this plays out in dieting and weight. The
Politics of Weight will be of interest to students and scholars across a range of disciplines
including gender studies sociology geography and political science.
