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Sizing Up Gender: Gender, Weight and Representation

  • May Friedman

  • Ben Barry

  • Calla Evans

The thorny landscapes of gender identity and fatness resist traditional models of categorization.  In this chapter we consider the ways that story acts as theory, foregrounding the lessons gained from first person narratives of participants in our pilot study. Participants’ relationships to meaningful garments or objects are juxtaposed with photographs that convey the item/garment in both representational formats as well as through the use of macrophotography that conveys the item in a non-narrative or surreal way.  We explore the impacts of inclusion and diversity; the tensions of co-creation and power; and the layers of structural and contextual factors which thread through each story. As a result, this research interrogates the limitations of conventional research: story and photography are not offered as a means of defining a landscape but rather in order to establish dialogue and contribute to an unspooling mosaic of language and imagery relating to social justice.

This presentation starts from 13 mins 12 secs to 28 mins 27 secs.

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Presenters

Photo of May Friedman.
A black and white photo of May, a brown woman. She is wearing a soft cardigan, chunky necklace, earrings, and has short black curly hair. She is smiling widely while speaking into a microphone.
May Friedman

May Friedman’s (she/her) research looks at unstable identities, including bodies that do not conform to traditional racial and national or aesthetic lines.  Most recently much of May’s research has focused on intersectional approaches to fat studies considering the multiple and fluid experiences of both fat oppression and fat activism. 

A portrait of Ben Barry.
A portrait of Ben Barry. He is looking off to the right of the frame, and wearing a black studded leather vest.
Ben Barry

Ben Barry’s (he/him) research centers the intersectional fashion experiences of disabled, fat, trans and queer people and engages them in the design of clothing, media and fashion systems. He is currently Dean of Fashion and Visiting Associate Professor of Equity and Inclusion at Parsons School of Design, New School University.

Photo of Calla Evans.
An image of Calla from the waist up. She is standing in a forest with green moss visible on the ground. There are out of focus tree trunks behind her with light streaming in. She is wearing rust coloured pants and a black short-sleeved t-shirt, she has many colourful tattoos visible on her arms. She has white skin, blue eyes and dark blond hair that spills over her shoulder. A portion of her hair on the left side of her face is shaved. She is looking directly into the camera with a slight smile.
Calla Evans

Calla Evans’s (she/her) research explores visual social media platforms, embodied identity performance and fat activism. She is a research associate at the Centre for Fashion & Systemic Change and the Creative Communities in Collaboration research lab. She is also a digital storytelling facilitator at Re•Vision: The Centre for Art & Social Justice and a celebrated lifestyle and documentary photographer.

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