Feeling Fat: Experiencing and Treating Fatness in Early Modern France, 1515-1715

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Fat Studies scholars identify heightened criticism of fatness during the sixteenth century, long before our modern concept of "obesity". My PhD uses the rich visual culture of Renaissance France and novel slimming advice from physicians to explore shifting cultural responses to fat during this crucial period (c.1500-c.1700). Using feminist and postcolonial methods, I will investigate how negative narratives about fatness and slimming practices could reinforce wider hierarchies of gender, class, and race. By highlighting the historical construction of fatness and elevating alternative responses (e.g. resistance to medical advice), this project can challenge the anti-fat attitudes that prevail in contemporary society.