The state or quality of being fat; the amount of body fat or flesh in a person or animal.
From the adjective 'fat' plus the abstract noun suffix '-ness' (the state of being), a standard English formation for creating nouns describing qualities.
Attitudes toward fatness have swung wildly through history—in medieval times, fatness was a sign of wealth and beauty, but modern culture flipped that meaning almost completely.
In medical and social discourse from the 20th century onward, fatness became pathologized and feminized—women's bodies were disproportionately scrutinized and blamed for fatness, while male fatness was often normalized or attributed to prosperity. The term entered feminist discourse (1960s onward) as activists reclaimed body autonomy against gendered appearance standards.
Use as a neutral descriptor of body composition or sociological category. Avoid coupling with moral judgment ('lazy fatness,' 'unhealthy fatness'). Recognize fatness as a normal human variation, not a failure.
["body diversity","adiposity (medical context)","weight variation"]
Fat acceptance and Body Liberation movements—led primarily by Black women and queer women—challenged medical racism and beauty standards. Their scholarship reveals how fatness stigma intersects with racism, disability justice, and gender oppression.
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