Today (Sunday, May 6, 2012) Alice Randall, author and activist, wrote an article on race and obesity in the New York Times. (HT to Tanehisi Coates.) Randall believes that health disparities are the most important civil rights issue of our times, and took the opportunity to examine the prevalence of obesity in black women.
I found her approach deeply problematic. It represents a war of sorts in black intellectual circles between social scientists and between humanists. For Randall, the biggest challenge people interested in this issue have to deal with is black culture.
What we need is a body-culture revolution in black America. Why? Because too many experts who are involved in the discussion of obesity don’t understand something crucial about black women and fat: many black women are fat because we want to be.
Now in analyzing the phenomenon of obesity in black communities, Randall turned to her own experience, then to the work of Andrea Elizabeth Shaw a humanities scholar, who is interested in the representation of larger black women in literature and pop culture.
It's that turn we should be troubled by, because she uses her personal narrative and then the work of someone not interested as much in the causes of obesity but rather in the representation of obese women in literature….to make an argument for a policy approach that focuses on the cultural reasons black women supposedly WANT to be fat.
I went to Detroit a few weeks ago to give a talk. No matter how you measure obesity, Detroit is one of the fattest cities in the country. I see it every time I go back home in the summer. I saw it after my talk when I hung out with some of my fraternity brothers at the club. Plus-sized women far outnumbered non-plus sized women. This didn't hamper their ability to attract men. And they looked good in what they were wearing. But I couldn't help but think how unhealthy they were.
Now in THAT moment, I could have theoretically turned to a cultural explanation. The plus-sized sisters didn't seem to be having problems attracting men. They didn't seem to have any problems enjoying themselves. In fact, I bet if I talked to some of them about their size, they could have told me about how their men love them that way. Could have told me stories about how they tried to lose weight but their men didn't want them to.
I can hear the narrative now.
My men want somebody with a little meat on their bones.
My men love my love handles.
But here's the thing. I study the politics of health disparities. After reading Randall's piece I performed a search–something Ms. Randall COULD have done easily given the resources she has. The literature on obesity is growing and can be hard to wade through. But what we know is that there is a positive association between race and obesity (black women are more likely to be obese than either white or asian women), and we know there is an association between neighborhood poverty and segregation and obesity.
Now where could this association come from? For Randall that association appears to exist because obese black women in these environments are enveloped in a culture that affirms their obesity.
Yes. Perhaps.
But Detroit has NO public transportation system to speak of, is a virtual food desert (with the powerful exception of Eastern Market), and is simply not walkable. How might the lived environment shape obesity dynamics? How might the politics of poverty shape obesity?
I wrote my first book on rap and black politics. I wouldn't have believed it was a valid subject of scholarly inquiry had I solely relied on "expert social science" instead of relying on my own gut. Relying on our gut, given how social scientists have historically treated black subjects and "black" social phenomenon, can help us develop better theory and better political outcomes. Using our own truth to build and test theories can be a good look.
However, it can also be a bad look. Randall has the right to her own story. She can and probably has been a powerful advocate for black women's health. She doesn't and should NOT have the right to ignore the quality social science research done connecting poverty and segregation to obesity in favor of a down home approach, that just so happens to blame black women for their own condition.
Excellent cautions, but a question though: Is this intellectual tension, the “war in black intellectual circles” really between social scientists and humanists? Or between between a notion of authenticity of the personal with narratives both in social science and the humanities that attemptto deconstruct that authenticity? One could easiily imagine a humanist and very personal narrative about how oppression created a dominant aesthetic of the female black body that would be completely consonant with the contemporary social science of health disparities and the lived experience of Detroit, etc.
What are you juxtaposing the notion of authenticity (in the second question above) against?
I mean the juxtaposition of the last two paragraphs: using “gut” against (or in league with) “quality social science.” A “good look” or not. Authenticity can be a rhetorical performance in either case it seems to me and thus I question whether the tension is between social science and humanities but in the service to which we put personal stories; in intellectual circles or otherwise.
I see them as generally being related although i’m talking about tendencies rather than absolutes. I believe personal stories can and should be used to generate humanistic truth claims about the nature of life, the universe, and everything. I also believe personal stories can and should be used to generate social scientific truth claims.
But in discussing policy, we should only use humanistic truth claims based on one’s personal narrative either alongside of social science truth claims (to complicate them) or instead of social science truth claims (when they don’t exist).For a number of reasons having to do with the political economy of black studies, we’ve been deluged with humanities scholars playing social scientists without taking into account how social scientists make and evaluate truth claims. Said simply, Henry Louis Gates is a scholar of literature. Why in the hell is he asked to speak about poverty?
Ok. Yes I see this. And not to belabor it, because I agree, but is the “political economy of black studies” analogical to political economy per se or “policy questions?”
So NYT does a piece on black female body image, you critique it in part to break the intellectual very real and journalistic constraints (cliches) of a specific discourse that privileges a humanistic and very personal voice in the name of a larger truth claim about health disparity.
You speak a truth to “power.” But–real talk question–is the power spoken to a privileged intellectual voice or about a certain authenticity? Can a poet speak to global capitalism, or poverty? Or just not “scholars of literature?”
Thanks.
What troubled me in Randall’s article was the notion that black men wanted their women to be fat. Well, why do you suppose that is? Are they afraid their women might attract the attention of “higher status” (I’ll just say it: white) men if they are slender instead of obese? Are the women afraid of black men thinking they want to attract white men if they lose weight? I can’t help but wonder if there is a racial component at play here. I guess Randall just didn’t want to go there…
I’ve been living in Paris for the last few months and notice a very different racial dynamic here, at least with regard to black and white French men and women (vs. Africans, as in born in a former French colony and recently moved to France). There is much less tension that in the US. Overweight black women are pretty much nonexistent here; in fact, most are very slender with impossibly long legs (yes, I’m jealous!).
Overall, I am troubled by the “big is beautiful” movement as I, like you, can’t help but think those big women (black, white, whatever) are very, very unhealthy.
Race, health disparities, personal stories & social science frm @LesterSpence http://t.co/sPgyb0nA and frm @urbanitemd http://t.co/wvOinOys
Yeah, I read this article, and two things jumped out:
1. Her goal is walking 8 mi a week? It’s a whole lot better than nothing, but I got an 8-year-old who walks more than that. The minimum recommended is 3 miles a day for fitness, 5 for weight loss. Tom Jefferson had it right: be up and walking around 2 hours a day.
2. Maybe the main thing to be thinking about is this anxiousness over what the men want.
The main reason why I’m not fat: I don’t overeat, I’m not on fat-o-genic drugs, and I get lots of
exercise, and by “lots” I mean running, biking, weights, etc. 4-5x/wk,
plus walking a few miles daily. Is it harder to eat well and
exercise when you’re poor and living in a bad neighborhood/food desert
where a woman who’s out for a jog is a target? Yes, and I know that one
from experience. Does the stress of living in an unfriendly place with
your back to the wall make it tough to lose weight, especially when you’re sleep deprived from looking after children or working three jobs? Yes. Should we be
making it easier? Yes, and one of the things we ought to be doing along
those lines is making it easier for large women to get good sports bras.
You men don’t know about this, and well-off skinny women don’t
care, but one of the biggest barriers to fitness is that poor large women
don’t have appropriate gear for exercise. All that said: is it possible
to exercise and eat well even in the midst of all that? YES. It is.
So don’t make women into some kind of political football, saying they
can’t get into better shape until the poverty concerns are addressed.
That’s not kind, and it’s not right. You take care of both simultaneously.
I’m not suggesting women be a political football, anymore than I suggest black people be a political football–I make the same general argument whenever I hear or read someone attribute what is in essence a political problem to culture. But i’ll run the risk of stepping over that line, in response to the argument that something about our culture is wrong. Because the data doesn’t support it. And because my politics don’t support it. In this case there is something about our lived environment (I wouldn’t have even included fashion in this piece THANK YOU for that intervention!) that makes us more likely to be obese. Doesn’t hit us all the same way–I don’t think I can be overweight if I try–but it hits us.
I believe personal stories can and should be used to generate humanistic
truth claims about the nature of life, the universe, and everything. I
also believe personal stories can and should be used to generate social
scientific truth claims.
lol, okeh MHP….,
The truth of this matter was well known to Elijah Poole. It is that it is harder to change a woman’s diet than it is to change her religion. Now by no means am I advocating Eat Right to Live – because that is more of a compendium of Poole’s dietary peculiarities (he hated green leafy vegetables) – and – of his authoritarian ambit, than it is of sound diet – though his times to eat and philosophy of eating are sound.
Anyway, NOBODY wants to be fat – ever. Fat people with any sense of pride will however, rationalize and validate their eating and lifestyle choices because to do otherwise would be to submit to the judgement of skinny muhph****s – and DAMN THAT!!!!
Me and the crew have embarked on vegetarianism over the past two weeks, driven by my son’s foray into competitive tennis. The Mrs. and I are middle-aged and need to be much more mindful of what we eat if we plan on seeing our grandkids graduate highschool/college. Bottomline, by simply cutting out meat, my son is down 8 pounds, felt really good about himself going to his little spring dance on friday and crushed two fifteen year old freshmen yesterday afternoon like it was nothing. I’m down 15 pounds, sleeping like a baby, feel great with much higher energy – and looking forward to comfortably getting into all my suits by the middle of the summer.
Oh, I thought that vegetarian/raw would be expensive – but once you eliminate the cost of meat from your diet, then all manner of options and variety become readily affordable. Yesterday I made quinoa (prepped simply like cream of wheat) and a large dose of chia (in grape juice (think bubble tea)) – magne shooooooot…., I was zooted for the next 4 hours!!! Literally, a hyped up altered state that was extremely pleasant. Little boy (he’s 12) went back to back sets with the two fifteen year olds and took both of them out 6-1/6-1.
I think it’s easier to make a significant change if you have a compelling reason to do so.
p.s., (my nod to MHP and making the personal universal) I’m an inveterate city bus rider and have been for 2.5 years now. Forget about the food desert excuse – anybody can get a bus pass and wear that joker out. I make a point of exclusively taking the bus to pick up these groceries and in an actual big city, I know that anybody who wants to can easily and affordably do it too.
the truth of the matter is that change is hard, period. whether we’re talking about political change or personal change. we can all point to individuals who either DID change because they wanted to, or did NOT change because they liked being where they were. but when we make the move from individuals to aggregates we’re talking a different ballgame.
congrats on the move to vegetarianism. all types of benefits there. (and i wear my bus pass out too!!)
I think the thesis is we must hit habits, dysfunctional attitudes and culture just as hard in this public health crisis ( and trust me every black public health expert, physician, shrink, health finance and researcher who spoke at NABJ conference on black women’s health explained how fr in deep doo doo we are). That seems to be a tougher pill to swallow…pardon…then the usual track: e.g. talking about poverty and racism.
That article was the NYT version of trolling — making broad generalizations in the hopes of getting page views via incensed bloggers. Meh, I say.
Along with the fact that she doesn’t mention poverty, food deserts, preventative healthcare and walkability, she also doesn’t mention that obesity is over-estimated in black women because the most common metrics are based on white bodies: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090611142407.htm
I don’t take her argument about cultural factors all that seriously either — and neither does the article’s photo of Josephine Baker. The kind of firm lower body weight that is idealized is not a health risk, and the big bellies which are much more dangerous are not what anyone is idealizing. Nobody is glamorizing the girl from Precious.
I agree with your point on personal narratives and social science — but fat-shaming isn’t about science, it’s about distinguishing oneself from the plebes. For that matter, the drinking 8 glasses of water a day isn’t particularly scientific either.
sounds like an excuse!
like an excuse for what?
Correct me if I am wrong, but it seems like you agree on some level with her assessment of the cultural components of obesity in black women. In essence you are saying that her article wasn’t so much wrong as it was incomplete in failing to give due credit to non cultural factors .Is your criticism of Randall’s piece that she does not acknowledge the non-cultural contributions to obesity in black women?
You are right, she exclusively focused on cultural factors of obesity in black women. But I didn’t take that to mean that she is refuting the non cultural factors. I read it as her making a case for some of the cultural factors that social scientists and other people who study the issue have neglected. She draws from her own experiences to support her claim, but my experiences and observations as a black man living in the suburban Detroit area for much of my life are simpatico with what she outlined. In those areas you don’t have the same issues of the virtual food desserts and inaccessible transportation, but you still find similar perspectives on body image.
I do think that maybe she could have added some useful perspective to her point by framing the cultural factors in a larger context. But overall I wouldn’t say the article is deeply problematic.
One last thing, I think that focusing on some of the cultural factors as she did in her article gives a sense of agency to black women in taking control of their own health outcomes in a way that some of the other discussions perhaps don’t. She’s saying her are some things that you can control.
I am not familiar with data that links culture with obesity. I understand the desire to give women the belief they have control over this issue. And regardless of the structural issues women DO have some agency here. But I think it’s a bad look to substitute personal anecdotes for careful analysis. I tried to show how problematic that approach is using my experience in Flood’s.
[Twenty
years before, in 1967, Joe Tex, a black Texan, dominated the radio airwaves
across black America with a song he wrote and recorded, “Skinny Legs and All.”
One of his lines haunts me to this day: “some man, somewhere who’ll take you
baby, skinny legs and all.” For me, it still seems almost an impossibility.] Yeah,
but Joe Tex also sang:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6k5RbP402U
Why
wasn’t Alice Randall haunted by that?
Just
making a casual observation of the weight many public transportation passengers
here in Charlotte are carrying makes me doubt that they we could sustain a
381-day bus boycott today.
I am an upcoming blogger and young black woman who is starting a health and wellness club at my university for multicultural women. Please check out my Youtube Channel, and help me kick off the revolution we call MOVEMENT! Here is Youtube Channel—–> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtmuVgtuO6I
I am a slim black man and I DO NOT like big women. I grew up in Louisiana and most black people there believe that slim men MUST BE WITH a fat or plump woman. I have not seen my sister or some of my school friends in 30 years because they did very bad things to me because I WOULD NOT SLEEP WITH BIG WOMEN. I know that seems hard to believe but it’s true. I had to kill a black co-worker in Atlanta because he attacked me for not sleeping with a FAT woman !!!
Has any one ever done a study on the possibility that black women may be bigger than any other race of women because…we were BREED to be bigger, stronger, faster? Big men and women were placed together to create a bigger, better slave. The people who perform these studies need to take into consideration their races’ involvement in the current state of our health. Yes, we must take control of our own bodies….but think about it…
This argument has a certain type of logic, and was promoted most recently by Michael Johnson (1996 Gold Medal Winner in the 200M) when he assessed why blacks might be better sprinters. But the argument itself is weak. Even if something like that could happen it would take far longer than simply 7 or so generations, and would require a great deal of centralized control to prevent the selection of mates outside of the pool, as well as more genetic knowledge than we currently have access to.
I prefer buxom blondes and Latinas-AND NOT FAT BROADS OF any RACE,INCLUDING FAT BLACK BROADS-because at 59,I possess boyish good looks,so WHY WOULD I WANT SOME TUBBO GIRLFRIEND????
Joe Tex was right!!!!(I WOULDN’T DO THE BUMP-or anything else!!!!)WITH NO BIG FAT WOMAN!!!!(Though
Joe’s “Skinny Legs And All,” which came out when I was 14 and in Grade 10 here in Windsor,Ont.,Can.,is one of my all-time favourite songs!!!
ilima,if black Frenchwomen are as hot as you say,perhaps I’ll vacation there around my 60th birthday-July 6,2013-and get a buxom Brigitte or Claudette sort of Parisian babe!!!!