Plus-size Black women deserve respect when seeking medical assistance in the United States an analysis of human dignity, the Body Neutrality Movement & the Fat Acceptance Movement

Plus-size Black women face an array of systemic socio-institutional discriminations in the United States, including in the medical sector. Being denied or ridiculed when receiving medical care violates the human dignity plus-size Black women deserve. Human dignity is the right to have rights, the right to respect, and non-discrimination due to the intrinsic value of human life. This master thesis will discuss how the Fat Acceptance Movement and the Body Neutrality Movement have the possibility to socially & legally mobilize the human dignity of large Black women seeking medical assistance in the United States. Human dignity is the conceptual framework whilst intersectionality, social movement theory, and “new” social movements are the theoretical frameworks of the thesis. The racist and fatphobic practices within American healthcare are elaborated upon, followed by how these practices hinder plus-size Black women’s right to dignity and health. The violation of plus-size Black women’s dignity is best described in the case of Barbara Dawson. Then, cases concerning eating disorders and their impact on plus-size Black women are also reviewed. Afterward, a comparison between the social and legal mobilizations of the Fat Acceptance Movement and the Body Neutrality Movement is conducted. To conclude, the historic legal mobilizations of the Fat Acceptance Movement combined with the contemporary social mobilizations of the Body Neutrality Movement have the potential to improve the human dignity of fat Black women demanding appropriate healthcare. This is due to NAAFA’s ability to organize successful legal campaigns, and ASDAH’s ability to emphasize intersectional and body neutral practices of human dignity that would be beneficial for fat Black women with health issues.