A Feminist Re-examination of Fat Oppression in Fay Weldon’s The Fat Woman’s Joke

Abstract

In contrast to the general and reductive assumption that pathologises fatness, this paper contends that fat female bodies serve as a critical nexus of intersectional oppression, where patriarchal, capitalist, and cultural power structures converge. In the light of Fay Weldon’s, The Fat Woman's Joke, in this study I will excavate the complex dynamics of fat representation, exposing the insidious mechanism of objectification, marginalization, discrimination, and commodification that perpetuate fat female oppression. Building on the theoretical foundations of Susan Bordo and Naomi Wolf, I aim to illuminate how the protagonist, Esther, embodies the tension between the cultural construction of femininity and bodily autonomy. Hence, by unpacking fat bias as a tool of social control and economic exploitation this study argues that fatness constitutes a paradigmatic site of feminist struggle, necessitating a nuanced reconsideration of identity, power and resistance in contemporary society.