Why do we fear fat?

For most of history, body size has been about more than just health — it’s been a tool of control. From colonial ideals of “discipline” to modern-day diet culture, our ideas about fatness and thinness are deeply tied to morality, power, and profit. But are we getting it all wrong? Why do we see fatness as a personal failure rather than a natural variation in human bodies? How have our ideas of race and femininity affected our ideas of acceptable fat? Is public health really about health, or does it fuel stigma? And in an era of body positivity, have we actually made progress — or just rebranded the same old shame? GUESTS: Tess Royale Clancy, fat activist and co-founder of Radically Soft, Sydney’s first ever market for plus sized 2nd hand & new clothes. April Helene-Horton aka The Bodzilla, body positivity advocate, model, and a 2025 ambassador for the Butterly Foundation. Dr Kathryn MacKay, researcher in feminist bioethics and a lecturer at the Sydney Health Ethics Centre. Dr Jane Williams, researcher at the School of Public Health at the University of Sydney and the Australian Centre for Health Engagement, Evidence and Values (ACHEEV) at the University of Wollongong. Also co-host of the Undisciplinary podcast. This episode first went to air in April 2025 This episode of God Forbid was made on Gadigal and Ngunnawal land. Technical production by Roi Huberman and Dylan Prins.