To be fat in a thin-obsessed gay culture

can be difficult. Despite affectionate in-group monikers for big gay men–chubs,

bears, cubs–the anti-fat stigma that persists in American culture at large

still haunts these individuals who often exist at the margins of gay

communities. In Fat Gay Men, Jason

Whitesel delves into the world of Girth & Mirth, a nationally known social

club dedicated to big gay men, illuminating the ways in which these men form

identities and community in the face of adversity. In existence for over forty

years, the club has long been a refuge and ‘safe space’ for such men. Both a partial insider as a gay man and an

outsider to Girth & Mirth, Whitesel offers an insider’s critique of the gay

movement, questioning whether the social consequences of the failure to be

height-weight proportionate should be so extreme in the gay community.

This book documents performances at club events and examines how

participants use allusion and campy-queer behavior to reconfigure and reclaim

their sullied body images, focusing on the numerous tensions of marginalization

and dignity that big gay men experience and how they negotiate these tensions

via their membership to a size-positive group. Based on ethnographic interviews

and in-depth field notes from more than 100 events at bar nights, café

klatches, restaurants, potlucks, holiday bashes, pool parties, movie nights,

and weekend retreats, the book explores the woundedness that comes from being

relegated to an inferior position in gay hierarchies, and yet celebrates how

some gay men can reposition the shame of fat stigma through carnival, camp, and

play. A compelling and rich narrative, Fat

Gay Men provides a rare glimpse into an unexplored dimension of weight and

body image in American culture.