New Body Project(s): “Excess” Skin in the Context of Massive Weight Loss

Abstract

Coinciding with the medicalization of the fat body, and the ensuing moral panic surrounding the “obesity epidemic,” the mere premise that the fat body can and should be “fixed” has increased the degree of social pressure on (future) patients to take full advantage of any and all weight loss strategies. Bariatric surgery is the latest, and increasingly popular, biomedical treatment strategy for rapid weight loss. This chapter problematizes the before/after narrative upon which most body projects are founded, focusing specifically on the experience of massive weight loss as a strategy to replace the ugly, abject body (and the moral implications that it represents) with one that is thought to be more congruent with one’s personal values and aspirations. I first discuss the context of the weight loss journey more generally, as a result of fat stigma, fat shaming, and fat hatred. Utilizing accounts derived from a new reality television series, Skin Tight, I also examine the shared experiences of individuals who, after engaging in the body work thought to be needed to reach their embodied aspirations through massive weight loss, find themselves feeling trapped within a body wherein the sense of accomplishment signifying the end of their journey would remain forever out of reach without intensive surgical intervention.