Challenging Antifat Bias and Fatphobia in the Philosophy Classroom

Author(s)Christine Wieseler
JournalAmerican Association of Philosophy Teachers Studies in Pedagogy
Thematic Cluster/Special IssueTeaching in Hostile Contexts
AbstractAs philosophy professors, we may inadvertently contribute to antifat bias and fatphobia in our classrooms. “What about health?” is the most common question students raise in conversations about antifat bias and fatphobia. I discuss the relationship between weight and health, the “obesity epidemic” as moral panic, and ways that antifat bias and fatphobia occur in everyday life. I share my experiences, difficulties, and suggestions for teaching philosophy courses that guide students to begin thinking critically about antifat bias and fatphobia. Critical approaches to fatness raise philosophically rich moral, epistemic, and ontological questions and require careful reflection on our own positionality. Specific topics I address include developing a personal stake in dismantling antifat bias and fatphobia, inclusive design and denaturalizing the built world, antifat bias in medicine, intersectionality and epistemic oppression, eating disorders and fatphobia through a feminist philosophical lens, how microaggressions sustain fat oppression, and fat temporality and crisis phenomenology.
KeywordsFatphobia, Antifat bias, Fat liberation, Philosophy pedagogy, Fat studies, Epistemic oppression, Sizeism, Microaggressions, Intersectionality
This content was generated by artificial intelligence using the text of the original work.
Date Published 2025
Volume10
Pages126-156
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.5840/aaptstudies202557105
URLhttps://www.pdcnet.org/aaptstudies/content/aaptstudies_2025_0010_0126_0156
Google Scholar Linkhttps://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=7075045727474210139&hl=en&as_sdt=2005&sciodt=0,5
Open Access?Yes

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