About this episode

This episode explores the relationship between fascism and body aesthetics, focusing on fatphobia and control through interviews with experts.

In this episode we dive into the aesthetics of fascism, Mar-a-Lago face, Hegseth’s “no fat generals” speech, and the racialized histories of fatphobia. We interviewed professors Caroline Heldman and Julie Cassiday to explore how fascist regimes past and present use the body as a site of control to enforce ideas about who belongs and who is targeted. The fascist body must be strong, fit, highly gender differentiated, and containing NO FAT, because fat becomes a sign of excess, lack of discipline, and weakness within fascism. But, as we know, these fascist times can also generate spaces of hope and resistance, needed now more than ever.

People in this episode

Host: Laurie Essig

Guests: Caroline Heldman, Julie Cassiday

Topics covered

• fascism
• body politics
• fatphobia
• control
• resistance
• aesthetics

Keywords

• fascism
• fatphobia
• body control
• aesthetics
• resistance
• discipline
• racialized histories

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Mar-a-Lago

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