Abstract

ZANELLO, Valeska; RICHWIN, Iara Flor  and  BIRCK, Michele Daiane. THE WEIGHT OF GENDER: DIFFERENCES IN THE EXPERIENCE OF FATNESS BETWEEN WOMEN AND MEN. Psicol. clin. [online]. 2024, vol.36, e003.  Epub Jan 20, 2025. ISSN 0103-5665.  https://doi.org/10.33208/pc1980-5438v036e003.

Fatphobia and the thin ideal do not confront people identically, but vary according to social markers. This study aimed to analyze how the condition of being fat is experienced differently by men and women, with different implications and subjective impacts. In-depth interviews were conducted with men and women in a bariatric surgery clinic. Through Content Analysis, three categories were identified: “Social pressure” showed that men and women suffered violence, judgments and fatphobic pressure in childhood and adult life, but only women reported suffering them within their own families, especially from their mothers. “Love and sex life” revealed that, for women, obesity is related to sexual objectification and affective neglect when single, and vulnerability to abusive and violent situations when in romantic relationships; for men, it was identified that obesity promoted losses only in sexual performance, without negatively affecting the love sphere and access to women. “Surgery motivators and post-surgical expectations” showed that women’s weight loss motivators and expectations rely on the restoration of the ability to care and the aesthetic dimension as the main foundations; for men, they mainly relied on the recovery of sexual performance.

Keywords : obesity; bariatric surgery; gender; subjectivity.

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