Body as Burden: Representation of Normalized Oppression and Everyday Exclusions of Fatness in Roxane Gay’s Memoir Hunger

Abstract

In recent decades, the discourses on the body have gained rapid momentum in both literary and non- literary scapes. Starting from television shows, commercials, movies, magazines, social media, and even novels reiterate that not all bodies are equal. With the emergence of social media platforms like Instagram, a body has been limited to its visual image and is seen merely as an object. A fit body is now a visually pleasing body and not a functional body. This paper delves into the various challenges faced by an individual who is considered “fat.” The theorists of Fat
Studies argue that being fat or obese is a socially constructed idea that oppresses people who do not meet the bodily expectations of the socio-culturally propagated body type. This paper aims to study the numerous levels of bias that a fat person faces in society and how they are “othered” in everyday life by doing a close textual reading of the memoir Hunger by Roxane Gay.