Ideological Criticism of PHAT Girlz - Research Paper Example

The roots of the preference for a slender body can perhaps be traced back to ancient Greece and to Plato. This preference was, however, more due to what can be termed as the mind/body dualism in which the mind was considered to be superior and the body slowly. In fact, Plato advocated that the body was a hindrance and distraction to the clarity of the mind and should, therefore, be regulated and controlled. Early Christianity promoted an even greater mind/body split in which absolute denial of all earthly desires and appetites was a state to be achieved.

A fat body was therefore undesirable. Throughout the ages, various methods were used to reduce weight. Socrates danced every morning; fat was surgically removed in ancient Rome. The concern with dieting took on new dimensions in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. “It was at this point […] that the word ‘diet’ began its evolution from its initial meaning in English, of a regime stipulating certain types of food to remedy illness, to its modern usage of losing weight.

”The discrimination between fat and slim was however largely applied to the male. It was only “at the height of the industrial revolution that the gendered nature of FAT and the body which we see today came into its own.” (Cowley 37)The PHAT Girlz is the story of an overweight girl, Jazmin Biltmore. Jazmin is an aspiring fashion designer. The fact that she is fat puts her at a disadvantage in almost all spheres of life. She has had to fight it out right from school.