"It's About Damn Time": Lizzo and the Rhetoric of Body Positivity
Loading...
Links to Files
Permanent Link
Author/Creator
Author/Creator ORCID
Date
2022-01-01
Type of Work
Department
English
Program
Texts, Technologies, and Literature
Citation of Original Publication
Rights
Distribution Rights granted to UMBC by the author.
This item may be protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. It is made available by UMBC for non-commercial research and education. For permission to publish or reproduce, please see http://aok.lib.umbc.edu/specoll/repro.php or contact Special Collections at speccoll(at)umbc.edu
This item may be protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. It is made available by UMBC for non-commercial research and education. For permission to publish or reproduce, please see http://aok.lib.umbc.edu/specoll/repro.php or contact Special Collections at speccoll(at)umbc.edu
Abstract
Through rhetorical analysis, I argue that popular culture sensation Lizzo emulatesrestorative literacy practices for fat, Black women to navigate harmful cultural norms
manifested as anti-blackness, misogynoir, and fatphobia on and offline. This analysis
explores how the public sphere often weaponizes contrived notions of desirability,
health, and authentic happiness to read marginalization. Lizzo's public and highly
active social media presence exposes these assumptions through her polarized
reception by users across platforms, shedding light on 1) eugenics-inspired logic that
informs social biases and 2) subversive counternarratives engaged in through her
content creation. I explore seven case studies by which Lizzo maximizes her exposure
online to not only increase the visibility of celebrity but also curate multi-media
cultural work remedying limiting representations of fat, Black women by rejecting
dehumanizing imagery and reductive social expectations. Lizzo replaces tropes
projecting unattraction, disease, and solemnity with anecdotal accounts that exude
self-confidence, vitality, and Black joy.