2021/03/09 by Laurie Cooper Stoll, Justine E. Egner · 1 voice
Health Professions · Social Sciences · Psychology · #Obesity and Health Practices #Disability Rights and Representation #Diversity and Impact of Dance
paper · doi:10.1111/soc4.12869
openalex publication_date 2021/03/09 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/03
Abstract Sociologists have contributed greatly to our understanding of how systems of oppression operate and work together to produce injustice. However, they have paid considerably less theoretical and empirical attention to fatphobia and ableism compared to some other systems of oppression. Worse yet, noncritical sociological research on fat bodies and disabled bodyminds has often contributed to the perpetuation of both. In this critical literature review of articles on disability and body size in the three highest ranking sociology generalist journals and two medical sociology journals over the past 10 years, we illustrate the main consequences when sociologists fail to employ a critical approach to the study of fat bodies and disabled bodyminds, including their use of eugenical logic and language. We conclude by offering suggestions for how sociologists can do better moving forward.