Download The Fat Female and the Cosmetic Panopticon

Controlling the Body: Media Representations, Body Size and Self-Discipline
Dina Giovanelli and Stephen Ostertag
To be published in The Fat Studies Reader
Esther Rothblum and Sondra Solovay (eds.)
NYU Press (Forthcoming)
We’ve all been in social settings where we’ve felt compelled to look and act certain ways. We
might pause to ask why we feel this need to present ourselves in specific ways. The concept of
panopticism provides one answer to this question. Panopticism refers to surveillance and social control
where people control their behavior because they feel as if others are constantly observing and judging
them. With panopticism power saturates the self and invades every minutia of existence. Initially, the term
“panopticon” referred to either crime or sexuality (Foucault, 1977, 1978), more recently though, it has
evolved to encompass the mass media (Bartky, 1988; Ewen, 1988). We argue that “panopticism” has
become so pervasive in contemporary societies that the mass media now engage in the surveillance and
control of women’s bodies.
We treat television as panopticon and examine fat female depictions. We focus specifically on
women because the media panopticon is infused with patriarchal beliefs, and so women learn to see and
judge themselves through men’s eyes and according to men’s criteria (Mulvey, 1975; Walter, 1995). We
ask these questions because we’re concerned with television’s panoptic power and its implications for
women’s self-control. With this paper we offer a small contribution to this complex relationship.
Media Representations and the Cosmetic Panopticon
Self-discipline and control through time and space reflect subjectivities thoroughly infused with
patriarchy, where women’s bodies confer a status in a hierarchy not of their own making; a hierarchy that
requires constant body surveillance and maintenance, often taking form in self-disciplining practices. Such
control requires docile bodies (Foucault, 1977) and cannot be maintained without the internalization of
patriarchy, saturating the soul through unremitting surveillance. The media contribute to women’s selfcontrol and self-discipline by serving as a panopticon (Bartky, 1988; Ewen, 1988), specifically a cosmetic
panopticon (Gauchet, 2006). As a cosmetic panopticon, the media induce a state of permanent surveillance
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and judgment around concerns of physical appearance and standards of “beauty.” Women’s clothing, hair,
body size, and movements are all shrouded in meaningful discourses and interpretive suggestions. Viewers
are simultaneously reminded that violating expectations of physical appearance, perhaps by being fat and
female, will be recognized and subject to gossip and discrimination. As such, the media tap daily into
millions of women’s sense of self and warn them of the horrors suffered by those who stray from
established definitions of femininity.
Disciplining the Body
The construction of “appropriately” female transgresses the physical body and incorporates other
markers such as personality and movement. Accordingly, a woman must be smaller than a man, demure,
and take up little space (Bartky, 1988). Fat women are, then the antithesis of what it means to be
appropriately feminine. Bartky (1988, p. 71) explains that women discipline themselves and their bodies to
create what she terms “the ideal feminine body-subject,” where control is directed at the body in the areas
of time (through constant surveillance), and space (through women monitoring the space that their physical
bodies occupy), and is practiced through diet, exercise, posture and movement (Bartky, 1988). Women are
constantly reminded of “appropriate” looks and style, which are then expressed in self-evaluations,
behavior, and self-control directed at diminishing size and restricting movement.
While women may, and indeed do, work to resist social expectations, the cosmetic panopticon
pressures all women to participate in creating the “ideal feminine body-subject.” Women who refuse run
the risk of being rejected by others and may develop a sense of shame and insecurity resulting in various
formal and informal repercussions that pressure women to change their behavior. This is especially true for
fat women who frequently develop a sense of self-loathing as a direct reaction to the social expectations
and pressures that they internalize (Goode, 1996). The ultimate result is that the demands on the body
become so ingrained in the socialization process that women become, to themselves, their own jailer
(Bordo, 2003, p. 63).
Creating the Docile Body: Symbolic Annihilation
The media’s contribution to our understanding of the social world through representations happens
in two distinct ways, the first is concerned with quantity and the second with quality. The quantitative
focus pertains to frequency and asks how often social groups are represented in the media; the qualitative
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focus asks when social groups are represented in the media how are they portrayed. Therefore, the media
serves to expose or conceal various social groups serving an “out of sight, out of mind” function and
equating to their numerical symbolic annihilation (Gerbner & Gross, 1976; Gross, 2001; Tuchman, 1978).
The media also help inform our “public radar” by suggesting how viewers should interpret and understand
media representations by providing the discourses within which they (e.g., portrayals, stereotypes and
stigmas) are represented. In both situations the media serve as cosmetic panopticon by suggesting the value
of women’s body size in the U.S., and how viewers are to feel and act according to body size. Women do
indeed resist and reject these discourses, yet their ubiquitous and incessant nature creates an unyielding tide
against which women must constantly swim.
Method
To investigate the symbolic annihilation of fat women we conducted a content analysis of
primetime programming (between 8:00pm and 10:00pm, Monday thru Saturday, and 7:00pm to 10:00pm
on Sunday) on the major television networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox), during one week in March and
October 2005. We concern ourselves only with news programming, dramas, and sitcoms, but not sporting
events, and with programs that have consistent fat female characters, which we defined based on our own
subjective interpretations. Programs that had fat females as “guest characters” like ABC’s Wife Swap were
not included in our study. In our March 2005 pilot study, we assigned a sequential number for each ½ hour
time slot of primetime programming (hour-long programs were assigned two numbers, one for each ½ hour
time slot) during our sample week (N=30). We then used the internet site www.randomizer.org to sample
20 percent of primetime television programming. Our sample yielded one program with a reoccurring fat
female character, Katrina on Fox’s Stacked. In October 2005 we subsequently sampled 100 percent of
primetime programming for our sample week, which yielded a second fat female television character,
Berta, on CBS’s Two and a Half Men. By October 2005, Fox’s Stacked had been removed from
primetime. We then downloaded five episodes of Stacked and recorded five episodes of Two and a Half
Men for further, in-depth analysis. Five episodes equates to approximately one month of programming
which we reasoned will provide enough data to generalize about the programs. We ground our discussion
of fat female characters and media representations based on a careful examination of these two programs.
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Findings
Of the two programs in our sample with fat female characters (Conchata Ferrell’s character Berta
on CBS’s program Two and a Half Men, and Marissa Jaret Winokur’s character Katrina from Fox’s
Stacked) we found that their representations often revolved around sexuality and emphasized appearance
(e.g., clothing) and behavior (e.g., dating and relationship interaction, and dialogue with other characters).
Two and a Half Men is a primetime television sitcom that airs on CBS. According to the
program’s website the characters include Charlie (Charlie Sheen), Charlie’s brother Alan (Jon Cryer),
Alan’s son Jake (Angus T. Jones), Charlie and Alan’s mother (Evelyn Harper), Alan’s ex-wife (Judith
Harper), Charlie and Alan’s neighbor Rose, Charlie’s ex-girlfriend later turned Alan’s girlfriend, and now
Alan’s wife Kandi, and finally their fat female housekeeper Berta (Conchata Ferrell).
Episodes of Two and a Half Men often began with Charlie courting a young thin and sexually
attractive female, and with Alan, representing the moral conscious of the family, making comments about
Charlie’s behavior and the women he encounters. They both use Jake as a means for making various adult
jokes, often revolving around sex in some form. Each episode is set up to imply that Charlie is having sex
with a female guest character who is always a thin woman and often wears revealing, sexually suggestive
clothing.
Berta is a tough, no frills woman with a “trucker’s” mouth exemplified in statements like “what
the hell happened to you” (episode: Hi Mr. Horned One), and “I hope you like the smell of pine scented
puke” (episode: Something Salted and Twisted). As a housekeeper, Berta often wears a grey or brown vest
with a long-sleeve shirt, blue jeans, and work boots; she does not wear make-up, and has flat, straight,
brown hair, all of which serve to illustrate her blue-collar persona. Berta’s voice is powerful, deep, and
loud rather than soft and sensual, and her movements are direct and lumbering rather than elegant and
graceful. While in Berta’s presence, Charlie and Alan often speak openly about their sexual desires,
penises and hormones. Berta’s involvement in these discussions often includes supporting Charlie’s sexual
adventures and serves to reinforce Charlie’s sexual appetite and desires. In fact, even female guest
characters participate in this sexual activity and dialogue. Berta, however, never speaks of her own
sexuality and romantic interests, and she says nothing to imply that she is sexually active or even interested.
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Overall, Berta’s character lacks sexual desire and appetite in a program seeped with sexual intimations and
discourses.
Fox’s Stacked is a sitcom involving five characters who either work at or frequent a local
bookstore. Pamela Anderson’s (a well-know sexual icon) character Skylar joins Marissa Jaret Winokur’s
character, Katrina as the two main female characters on the series, and Katrina is the other fat female
character in our sample. Skylar and Katrina work along side two brothers, Stewart (Brian Scolaro) and
Gavin (Elon Gold) who own the bookstore where most episodes take place. Finally, Harold, played by
Christopher Lloyd, is a retired rocket scientist, and the store’s sole steady customer.
The physical differences between Skylar and Katrina are dramatic and easily observable. Katrina
is the antithesis of Skylar. In comparison, Skylar is tall and thin, with long legs and large breasts, while
Katrina is dumpy, short and dowdy. Additionally, Skylar’s hair is long, wavy, full-bodied and platinum
blond, whereas Katrina’s hair is shorter, dark, and frizzy. Skylar wears revealing short skirts, high-heeled
shoes, and low-cut tops; in fact, nearly everything she wears hugs her body and accentuates her sexuality.
Katrina’s style of dress, however, is more modest and conservative. Additionally, Skylar speaks with a soft
effeminate voice, while Katrina’s diction is loud and raspy. Most worthy of noting is that Skylar’s nipples
are often evident under her clothing, and when her low-cut tops are coupled with pushup bras, Skylar’s
cleavage becomes an important focal point of her character. Skylar’s sex appeal is constantly promoted and
reinforced through sexual innuendo and interaction with other characters. Katrina’s sexuality, however, is
often denigrated through those very same avenues.
Appearance aside, both women differ with respect to their romantic encounters and leisure
activities. Skylar constantly references the dates she’s been on and the often wealthy, attractive, and
successful men with whom she socializes. Katrina, on the other hand, is rarely portrayed as having any
romantic interests, and when she does, it is done in a degrading and embarrassing way. For example, in the
episode Crazy Ray Katrina shows romantic interest in an unstable, homeless, and mentally ill person named
“Crazy Ray” and with whom she exchanges phone numbers. Eventually Katrina realizes that Crazy Ray is
not going to call her and she expresses sadness and dejection. Katrina’s desire for a relationship with Crazy
Ray portrays her as romantically and sexually desperate enough to want attention from someone whom the
other characters have vocally judged as flawed. Furthermore, Crazy Ray’s refusal to call Katrina
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exemplifies him as the person who’s rejecting her, demonstrating Katrina as the less valuable person in the
interaction.
Additionally, other characters often make jokes about Skylar’s sexual escapades, which include
references to Skylar’s high level of sexual expertise and her experiences as a “home wrecker.”
Furthermore, in the episode titled The Two Faces of Eve, Skylar is shown pulling hair during a fight with
her female friend Eve, the men on the show asserted that they found this behavior to be sexy and arousing.
When Katrina engaged in the same behavior with Stewart during the same episode the male characters
framed the event as a turn-off and unappealing. These comments reinforce Skylar’s position as a sexual
being, while the absence of such comments and the presence of degrading comments directed towards
Katrina reinforce her character as sexually and romantically undesirable and stigmatized.
The existence of only two fat female characters (Berta and Katrina) as well as their performances
and personas suggest that fat female television characters are both numerically symbolically annihilated in
that the major networks cast only two fat female characters for their primetime television programming,
and qualitatively symbolically annihilated in that their character’s performances and persona are devoid of
any sexual and romantic desirability and interest. In two programs saturated with sexual references and
innuendos, Berta’s character evades any suggestions that she is even interested in sex, let alone that she is
sexually stimulating, and Katrina’s lack of sexual and romantic desirability serves to reinforce and validate
Skylar’s dominant sexuality. Both women are denied their sexuality, and at times are romantically
humiliated in front of millions of viewers each week. We must now ask what these findings imply about
the ways in which people perceive fat women, and how fat women perceive themselves?
The Fat Female and the Cosmetic Panopticon
Media representations are a major source of information about society, the world, and its
inhabitants (Hall, 1979). As an institution which shapes and reflects values, norms, expectations,
perceptions, and emotions, television functions as a panopticon and serves as disciplining agent. It is upon
these images that viewers actively develop “subjectivities” and understandings of each other (Hall, 1979).
It is also upon these images that viewers ground their behavior and self-control.
Our sample of primetime television suggests that fat female television characters are symbolically
annihilated, both quantitatively and qualitatively. Quantitatively in that they are present in only 1.7% of
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primetime television viewing hours, despite the fact that fat women comprise over 33% of the adult female
population in the United States (Center for Disease Control, 2006), and qualitatively because for those fat
female characters that do exist, they are often romantically ignored or treated as sexually unappealing by
surrounding characters. The few fat female television characters that do exist are consistently depicted in
relation to thinner, highly sexualized female characters. In fact, fat women on primetime television are
used as props, against which thinner women are compared, judged and valued.
Stigma, Stigma Management, and Self-Control
Fat women’s symbolic annihilation on television speaks to the media as cosmetic panopticon
through its ability to pass judgment, stigmatize, and pressure people to manage their identity (Goffman,
1963; Goode, 1996). The cosmetic panopticon reflects a hierarchy of patriarchy, socially constructed so
that simply being female is stigmatized and advances certain self-discipline practices (Bartky, 1988), and
being a fat female is morally reprehensible and reason for extreme forms of body control. One of the most
extreme forms can be seen in how people control their consumption. Such is the case for risky health
behaviors like the overuse of laxatives, and eating disorders (e.g., anorexia nervosa and bulimia). The
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH, 2001) defines eating disorders as “serious disturbances in
eating behavior, such as extreme and unhealthy reduction of food intake or severe overeating, as well as
feelings of distress or extreme concern about body shape or weight.” Exact estimates of the number of
people with eating disorders are difficult to establish, but some suggest upwards to 11 million people, with
a ratio of women to men at 10:1 (Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, 2006; National Eating
Disorders Association, 2006). However, recent trends show that about 20-30% of younger people
diagnosed with anorexia are males (Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, 2006).
These dangerous health behaviors often reflect cosmetic concerns like body image, and are
grounded on assumptions and expectations about how one’s being judged by others. In fact, a 2000 article
in Eating Disorders Review (2000) reports that 42% of 1st through 3rd grade girls and 81% of 10-year old
children think they are too fat. These numbers are even more startling given that people often begin to
develop eating disorders during puberty and adolescence, perhaps partly explaining why a national study of
college students found that almost 20% of them admitted to having an eating disorder with most never
seeking treatment (National Eating Disorders Association, 2006).
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Eating disorders are often caused by, and symptomatic of, a number of interrelated psychological
and social factors (Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, 2006), and they pose numerous health
risks, including cardiac failure, multiple organ dysfunctions, cardiovascular problems, abnormal adolescent
development, and muscular atrophy (Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, 2006). We believe the
cosmetic panopticon is partly responsible for the roughly 11 million people diagnosed with eating
disorders. Fat female television representations reflect a hierarchy of patriarchy that suggests to viewers
how females should look and act if they wish to be viewed positively. Females who stray will be
stigmatized, scorned and constantly pressured and coerced to adhere to specific body expectations. For
many women, achieving such body expectations requires exercising extreme control over their emotional,
psychological, and physical self. The media as cosmetic panopticon likely contributes to this hierarchy of
patriarchy through fat women’s numerical and qualitative symbolically annihilation.
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