Two professors at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse are trying to launch the field of “fat studies.”

The College Fix reported that the professors are “working to develop and legitimize the field of ‘fat studies,’ a discipline that examines the cultural and sociological phenomenon of overweight and obese human beings.”

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Laurie Cooper Stoll, a professor of sociology, and Darci Thoune, an associate professor of English, are both leading scholarly research in this field from the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse. Their website, “Two Fat Professors,” declares that the academics are “fighting fatphobia with education, community-building and a lot of sass.” The College Fix reached out to both professors numerous times seeking comment; the pair did not respond to requests through their website, through email, or through messages left on their university phones. Their website and publications, however, offer an illuminating look at their burgeoning research.

The Fix reported that the two professors are “working off a thesis that postulates the voices of obese individuals are absent or sidelined in contemporary research on obesity and health.”

In the past, Stoll and Thoune have advocated for the use of “standpoint theory,” which stresses “the importance of situated-knowledge and the epistemic advantage of marginalized groups.”

The two professors suggested that standpoint theory would “[elevate] the voices and research of fat scholars and activists.” The theory could also be used by “fat” scholars to “challenge…positivistic notions of science that suggest researchers can and should be ‘value-free,’” the two argued.

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In the spring of 2020, according to their website, the professors will be editing a special standpoint theory-centric edition of the journal “Fat Studies.” That edition will feature essays such as “Thick Bodies, Thick Skins: Reflections on Two Decades of Sociology in Fat Studies” and “The Lumps and Bumps of Aesthetic Labor: Rethinking Fat Talk in Plus-Size Retail.”

The outlet also reported that Stoll and Thoune have written about the issue on their own blog, including an essay from Stoll about “flying while fat”:

To recap, to try to ensure as pleasant a flight for myself as possible and not have to deal with other passengers, I was already out $350 of my own money and was driving two hours out of my way to try to avoid being on an aircraft that is in no way accommodating for fat flyers. Not to mention, I also had to account for why I paid for the upgrade when submitting my paperwork for reimbursement. Here one runs into the awkwardness of having to explain why you’re not flying coach when the others from your organization are doing so. While I wasn’t compelled to offer an explanation, I nonetheless shared with the person completing the paperwork that as a fat person, it is an issue of accommodation.

Stoll then explained how she had difficulty fastening her seatbelt during one leg of the flight and claimed that she was being watched by a male passenger.

As the Fix noted, there “is a wide abundance of research on overweight individuals from a multitude of diverse sources that indicates obesity is not healthy in any capacity,” including from the National Institutes of Health, Harvard University, and John Hopkins University.

But if scholars like Stoll and Thoune get their way, all that science will be undone.