Fearing the Black Body

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Fearing the Black Body
AuthorSabrina Strings
Subjectsociology
Publication date
May 2019
ISBN9781479819805

Fearing the Black Body is a 2019 non-fiction book by American sociologist Sabrina Strings about the history of fatphobia, which Strings argues is rooted in anti-Black racism. It was published by New York University Press under the full title Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia.[1][2]

Synopsis[edit]

In Fearing the Black Body, Strings, associate professor of sociology at the University of California, Irvine, writes of the history of fatphobia and its intersection with anti-Black racism in Europe and the United States from the sixteenth-century to the present day. Strings explores the influence of various factors in the development of anti-fatness and its connection to racism, including the Atlantic slave trade, Renaissance art, scientific racism, and Protestantism, among others.

Publication[edit]

Fearing the Black Body was published in May 2019 by NYU Press.[1] The cover features an illustration depicting Sarah Baartman.[3]

Reception[edit]

Fearing the Black Body was well received in academic circles. Positive reviews of the book were published by Meshell Sturgis in Lateral,[4] Etsuko Taketani in The Journal of American History,[5] and Amelia Earhart Serafine in the Journal of Interdisciplinary History.

In Social Forces, Laura Jennings praised the accessibility of Strings's prose and the depth of her research, but noted that Strings occasionally falsely conflated physically descriptive terms like "obesity" with behavioral terms such as "gluttony." Jennings also noted that Strings's analysis of recent history is less extensive than her analysis of earlier centuries.[6] In the European Journal of Women's Studies, Kathy Davis complimented the book's innovation, readability, and breadth, but expressed her wish that Strings had gone further in her analysis of the epidemiology of obesity as it relates to black women.[7]

The book won the 2020 Sociology of Body and Embodiment Best Publication Award from the American Sociological Association.[8]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Strings, Sabrina (2019). Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia. New York: NYU Press. ISBN 978-1-4798-9178-8. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  2. ^ "Fearing the Black Body". NYU Press. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  3. ^ Cadet, Jochebed (2020). Strings, Sabrina (ed.). "Venus Envy". The Women's Review of Books. 37 (5): 22–23. ISSN 0738-1433. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  4. ^ Sturgis, Meshell (2020). "Review of 'Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia' by Sabrina Strings (New York University Press)". Lateral. 9 (1). doi:10.25158/L9.1.17. ISSN 2469-4053. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  5. ^ Taketani, Etsuko (June 1, 2021). "Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia". Journal of American History. 108 (1): 154. Retrieved 2024-04-23 – via Oxford Academic.
  6. ^ Jennings, Laura (2020). "Review of Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia". Social Forces. 99 (1): 1–3. ISSN 0037-7732. Retrieved 2024-04-23 – via JSTOR.
  7. ^ Davis, Kathy (December 7, 2021). "Book Review: Fearing the Black Body. The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia by Sabrina Strings". European Journal of Women's Studies. 29 (1): 190–192. doi:10.1177/13505068211065599. ISSN 1350-5068. Retrieved 2024-04-23 – via Sage Journals.
  8. ^ "Sociology of Body and Embodiment Award Recipient History". American Sociological Association. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
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