Revealing the Fat Experience: A Neglected Dimension of Hidden and Outside Curriculum

For more than a decade a new realm of research has emerged called Fat Studies. Within curriculum studies this area contributes to an understanding of appearance as a source of discrimination. Amid today’s emphasis on eradicating obesity, fat students have become one of the primary foci of our education system. Burdened with the pressure to assimilate into a society that deems their excess weight a detestable hindrance, they are often ostracized and isolated. Falling prey to bullying at the hands of both peers and adults, they exist within a space that rejects their inclusion and presents physical barriers, such as the confining classroom desk, and mental barriers, such as the bombardment of messages vilifying the fat body. Through the use of fictionalized portraits based on composites of fat students, this qualitative study of the hidden curriculum of appearance exposes weight bias experienced by fat individuals. It reveals barriers to societal acceptance and negative repercussions that the denial of inclusion imposes on self-perception and identity formation. Thus, the experience of fat students can be seen as a distractive and destructive force that prevents full participation in the intended and taught curricula. The purpose of the project is to reveal the inconsistencies existing within the education system and society regarding weight bias, considering the notion that too often, efforts to address the obesity epidemic confirm that fat individuals require alteration. Efforts such as the promotion of Michelle Obama's Let's Move Campaign, the modification of foods offered in the lunchroom, the requirement of increased physical education, and the inclusion of a student's Body Mass Index report cards remind all stakeholders--students, parents, teachers, staff, and the larger society --that fatness is wrong and should be avoided at all costs. This has a detrimental effect on the identity of fat individuals and the understanding of their place in society. The project’s conclusion offers insight into the necessity of anti-oppressive education, suggesting that the task of alleviating weight stigmatization is the responsibility of the education system. The study is offered as a contribution to literature on both hidden curriculum and outside curriculum.