Fatphobia and Archaeology at CiFA '21

Fatphobia and Archaeology

An exploration of fatphobia and the body in archaeology

Presented at the CIfA Early Career Special Interest Group digital conference in 2021, this talk formed part of a wider piece of research into fatphobia in the archaeological record. Pasted text Pasted text

The presentation examined how ideas about body size, gender, race and sexuality can become embedded in archaeological interpretation.

Using evidence ranging from the physical effects of tight-lacing to the history of Sarah Baartman and the interpretation of Palaeolithic “Venus” figurines, the talk explored how apparently neutral archaeological language can carry much older cultural assumptions about which bodies are considered civilised, desirable, excessive or “other”. 

A question of interpretation:

The talk questioned the tendency to treat a diverse group of Palaeolithic figurines as a single corpus of “fat ladies”, and challenged interpretations that repeatedly frame their bodies through sexuality, fertility or exaggeration.

The central argument was simple:

If the lens through which we interpret the past is shaped by fatphobia, then fatphobia can restrict what archaeology is able to see. 

What this talk explored

How do contemporary ideas about body size shape archaeological interpretation?

What happens when racism, sexism and fatphobia become embedded in the language used to describe bodies from the past?

Are diverse Palaeolithic figurines being flattened into a single story because of the interpretive lens we bring to them?

What might we see if each artefact were approached on its own terms?