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Fat: The Anthropology of an Obsession. Don Kulick and Anne Meneley, eds. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher-Penguin, 2005. 246 pp.
DAVID A. HIMMELGREEN
University of South Florida
Human fascination with fat is complex and multifaceted. Don Kulick and Anne Meneley state that fat "conjures images of repulsion, disgust, and anxiety for some, but associations of comfort, delight, and beauty for others" (p. 1). As the contributors to this volume show, fat imbues us with notions of good and bad, strength and weakness, health and illness, attractiveness and unpleasantness, and wealth and poverty, in addition to different meanings regarding eroticism.
Rebecca Popenoe examines the role cultural values play in determining ideal body types. In "Ideal," she describes how young desert Arab girls in Niger are force-fed to fatten them up in preparation for marriage. "Fat bodies are appreciated where food is hard to come by, and thin ones are admired in places where food is abundant" (p. 17). Lena Gemzö explores the relationship between religion, fasting, and sanctity in "Heavenly." Gemzö discusses cases such as that of Alexandrina of Balasar, a young Portuguese woman who gave her life to Christ through "holy...