--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Fat is a social disease, and fat is a…" description: "\"Fat is a social disease, and fat is a feminist issue.\" — Susie Orbach" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de8/susie-orbach-14175_disease_fat-is-a-social-disease-and-fat-is-a-fem_2432254.jpg" --- # Fat is a social disease, and fat is a feminist issue. ![“Fat is a social disease, and fat is a feminist issue.” quote by Susie Orbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de8/susie-orbach-14175_disease_fat-is-a-social-disease-and-fat-is-a-fem_2432254.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de8/susie-orbach-14175_disease_fat-is-a-social-disease-and-fat-is-a-fem_2432254.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de8/susie-orbach-14175_disease_fat-is-a-social-disease-and-fat-is-a-fem_2432254.jpg) > “Fat is a social disease, and fat is a feminist issue.” [Susie Orbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-orbach/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Fat is framed as both a health concern and a feminist issue, linking body stigma to gender oppression **In simple terms:** Fat is both a health and feminist issue Key Takeaway Challenge stigma around body size Themes health feminism body politics Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type social political When to use this quote - personal health - public policy - education - advocacy Key Concepts social stigma intersectionality Questions to Reflect On - What assumptions do you hold about weight? - How can feminism address body stigma? A Different Perspective Body size alone does not determine health or worth ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Disease](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disease/) [Feminism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feminism/) [Feminist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feminist/) [Issues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/issues/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) ## Related quotes > [I read that book 'Fat is a Feminist Issue', got a bit desperate halfway through and ate it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-brand/i-read-that-book-fat-is-a-feminist-issue-got-a-bit-desperate-halfway/) [Jo Brand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-brand/) > [The trade unions in the UK are campaigning around zero-hours contracts, which isn't about feminism, but it's a feminist issue. Women are affected by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-holmes/the-trade-unions-in-the-uk-are-campaigning-around-zero-hours/) [Rachel Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-holmes/) > [The way we fund campaigns is a feminist issue and a race issue. If you want more representation, you can't say it's going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zephyr-teachout/the-way-we-fund-campaigns-is-a-feminist-issue-and-a-race-issue-if-you/) [Zephyr Teachout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zephyr-teachout/) > [Abortion is not a feminist issue, and it is not a religious issue. It's a libertarian issue that, legally speaking, has nothing to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norah-vincent/abortion-is-not-a-feminist-issue-and-it-is-not-a-religious-issue-it-s/) [Norah Vincent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norah-vincent/) > [I feel like this is a feminist issue and is going to be a part of a feminist conversation, and I wanted images of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tatyana-fazlalizadeh/i-feel-like-this-is-a-feminist-issue-and-is-going-to-be-a-part-of-a/) [Tatyana Fazlalizadeh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tatyana-fazlalizadeh/) > [“Harper: Who said it was a feminist issue? What the heck? I’ll tell you what started it: the incident at the kindergarten orientation day.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liane-moriarty/harper-who-said-it-was-a-feminist-issue-what-the-heck-i-ll-tell-you/) [Liane Moriarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liane-moriarty/) > [Our idea of a healthy body is so destabilised that insecure people have come to bolster their own bodies by deeming others - those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susie-orbach/our-idea-of-a-healthy-body-is-so-destabilised-that-insecure-people/) [Susie Orbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-orbach/) > [Fat is a way of saying no to powerlessness and self-denial.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susie-orbach/fat-is-a-way-of-saying-no-to-powerlessness-and-self-denial/) [Susie Orbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-orbach/) > [He's fat and a clown, Bill, a fat clown for all to see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eamon-dunphy/he-s-fat-and-a-clown-bill-a-fat-clown-for-all-to-see/) [Eamon Dunphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eamon-dunphy/) > [In the Sacramento of the 1950s, it was as though White simply hadn't had time enough to figure Brown out. It was a busy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rodriguez/in-the-sacramento-of-the-1950s-it-was-as-though-white-simply-hadn-t/) [Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) > [Fat girls aren’t real people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tucker-max/fat-girls-aren-t-real-people/) [Tucker Max](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tucker-max/) > [I've always turned down stuff where you had to be fat. I may be fat, but that's not why you play a role. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-griffiths/i-ve-always-turned-down-stuff-where-you-had-to-be-fat-i-may-be-fat/) [Richard Griffiths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-griffiths/) > [So I was ugly. I was never fat, really, and I never wore headgear or had zits or anything. But I was ugly. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/so-i-was-ugly-i-was-never-fat-really-and-i-never-wore-headgear-or-had/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Singing is the love of my life, but I was ready to give it all up because I couldn't handle people talking about how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stevie-nicks/singing-is-the-love-of-my-life-but-i-was-ready-to-give-it-all-up/) [Stevie Nicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stevie-nicks/) > [This is true; virtually all edible substances, and many automotive products, are now marketed as being low-fat or fat-free. Americans are obsessed with fat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-barry/this-is-true-virtually-all-edible-substances-and-many-automotive/) [Dave Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-barry/) ## More by Susie Orbach > [Emotional Literacy means being able to recognise what you are feeling, so that it doesn't interfere with thinking. It becomes another dimension to draw…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susie-orbach/emotional-literacy-means-being-able-to-recognise-what-you-are-feeling/) [Susie Orbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-orbach/) > [Many young girls are constantly consumed by controlling and managing their body image to the extent that they are much more involved in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susie-orbach/many-young-girls-are-constantly-consumed-by-controlling-and-managing/) [Susie Orbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-orbach/) > [From a child's point of view, there is rarely a great time for parents to separate, even if there has been a lot of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susie-orbach/from-a-child-s-point-of-view-there-is-rarely-a-great-time-for-parents/) [Susie Orbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-orbach/) > [Being able to provoke a different point of view to the standard current ideological or political perspective as played out in conventional newspaper or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susie-orbach/being-able-to-provoke-a-different-point-of-view-to-the-standard/) [Susie Orbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-orbach/) > [We accept there's an emotional aspect to life. But we're not very developed in our ways of understanding it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susie-orbach/we-accept-there-s-an-emotional-aspect-to-life-but-we-re-not-very/) [Susie Orbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-orbach/) > [I think it is one of the capacities of human beings, to create style.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susie-orbach/i-think-it-is-one-of-the-capacities-of-human-beings-to-create-style/) [Susie Orbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-orbach/) > [Bodies are becoming our personal mission to tame, extend and perfect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susie-orbach/bodies-are-becoming-our-personal-mission-to-tame-extend-and-perfect/) [Susie Orbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-orbach/) > [“The truth is, we don't have an easy language for emotional life. That's why we have writers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susie-orbach/the-truth-is-we-don-t-have-an-easy-language-for-emotional-life-that-s/) [Susie Orbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-orbach/) > [Our idea of a healthy body is so destabilised that insecure people have come to bolster their own bodies by deeming others - those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susie-orbach/our-idea-of-a-healthy-body-is-so-destabilised-that-insecure-people/) [Susie Orbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-orbach/) > [The insistence that the commercialisation of the body is a fit subject for political discussion and intervention is well overdue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susie-orbach/the-insistence-that-the-commercialisation-of-the-body-is-a-fit/) [Susie Orbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-orbach/) > [Fat is a way of saying no to powerlessness and self-denial.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susie-orbach/fat-is-a-way-of-saying-no-to-powerlessness-and-self-denial/) [Susie Orbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-orbach/) > [No one likes to feel helpless. We find it psychologically unbearable and inside ourselves we may try to make ourselves part author of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susie-orbach/no-one-likes-to-feel-helpless-we-find-it-psychologically-unbearable/) [Susie Orbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-orbach/) > [“Children who feel that they are unloved can believe that there must be something very wrong about them which makes them unacceptable. The stinging…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susie-orbach/children-who-feel-that-they-are-unloved-can-believe-that-there-must/) [Susie Orbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-orbach/) > [Boys, young men, men of all ages are being captivated by the new visual grammar which pushes men to pout and posture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susie-orbach/boys-young-men-men-of-all-ages-are-being-captivated-by-the-new-visual/) [Susie Orbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-orbach/) > [No one leaves a long-term relationship scot-free or without conflict.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susie-orbach/no-one-leaves-a-long-term-relationship-scot-free-or-without-conflict/) [Susie Orbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-orbach/) [Explore all 47 Susie Orbach quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-orbach/) ## More Disease quotes > [Women still, when they have breast cancer, go to work; they still lead their lives. They have to. 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That's th' appliance only Which your disease requires.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/ask-god-for-temp-rance-that-s-th-appliance-only-which-your-disease/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Ring out false pride in place and blood, The civic slander and the spite; Ring in the love of truth and right, Ring in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-the-great/ring-out-false-pride-in-place-and-blood-the-civic-slander-and-the/) [Alfred the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-the-great/) > [My identity shifted when I got into # recovery . That's who I am now, and it actually gives me greater pleasure to have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-clapton/my-identity-shifted-when-i-got-into-recovery-that-s-who-i-am-now-and/) [Eric Clapton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-clapton/) > [If you are a white male, you don't deserve to live. You are a cancer, you're a disease, white males have never contributed anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noel-ignatiev/if-you-are-a-white-male-you-don-t-deserve-to-live-you-are-a-cancer/) [Noel Ignatiev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noel-ignatiev/) > [Jesus never met a disease he could not cure, a birth defect he could not reverse, a demon he could not exorcise. But he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-yancey/jesus-never-met-a-disease-he-could-not-cure-a-birth-defect-he-could/) [Philip Yancey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-yancey/) > [Religion is a disease. It is born of fear; it compensates through hate in the guise of authority, revelation. Religion, enthroned in a powerful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-amos-dorsey/religion-is-a-disease-it-is-born-of-fear-it-compensates-through-hate/) [George Amos Dorsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-amos-dorsey/) > [To some degree Satanism is purely a kind of disease of Christianity. 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