The weight of the word: knowing silences in obesity research

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dc.contributor.authorWarin, M.
dc.contributor.authorGunson, J.
dc.date.issued2013
dc.description.abstractIn this article, we examine the ethical and methodological tensions entailed in doing qualitative research in obesity studies. Framing our own embodied engagements through critical social theory, we consider how cultural meanings associated with obesity are silenced and negotiated in the research process. This negotiation is fraught with linguistic and corporeal challenges, beginning with the decision to use (or not use) the word obesity in research materials. Obesity is a visible stigma, and we argue that silencing language does not erase the tacit judgments that accompany discursive categorization. It is in a broader context of power relations that we examine the relationship between researcher and participant bodies and the ways in which collective knowingness about fat bodies underpins methodological engagement. The simultaneous presence and absence of obesity have a significant impact on the research process, in shaping both participants' experiences and the researcher's actions and interpretations.
dc.description.statementofresponsibilityMegan J. Warin and Jessica S. Gunson
dc.identifier.citationQualitative Health Research, 2013; 23(12):1686-1696
dc.identifier.doi10.1177/1049732313509894
dc.identifier.issn1049-7323
dc.identifier.issn1552-7557
dc.identifier.orcidWarin, M. [0000-0001-8766-1087]
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2440/81912
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherSage Publications Inc
dc.rights© The Author(s) 2013
dc.source.urihttps://doi.org/10.1177/1049732313509894
dc.subjectembodiment
dc.subjectbodily experiences
dc.subjectobesity
dc.subjectoverweight
dc.subjectpower
dc.subjectempowerment
dc.subjectreflexivity
dc.subjectrelationships
dc.titleThe weight of the word: knowing silences in obesity research
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.publication-statusPublished

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