In her April 19, 2016, Facebook post, Vincent explained: “I couldn’t imagine a day again that I would weigh over 200 pounds. I feel ashamed. I feel embarrassed. I feel overwhelmed. I feel like a...

In her April 19, 2016, Facebook post, Vincent explained: “I couldn’t imagine a day again that I would weigh over 200 pounds. I feel ashamed. I feel embarrassed. I feel overwhelmed. I feel like a failure.” Facing the stigma of her heavy body—after losing a formerly slender physique that had been celebrated on national television—Vincent announced plans to start a Weight Watchers regimen to lose weight again. Heavy people—those defined as overweight or obese or sometimes simply called “fat”—face a pervasive stigma that is woven into the fabric of everyday life (Puhl and Heuer 2009). And since weight is widely perceived as something individuals can control through their choices about diet and exercise, the shame associated with a fat body is exacerbated by a broad cultural message that fat people have only themselves to blame for their stigmatized bodies. In a recent study in the journal Sociology of Health & Illness, Marissa Dickens and her colleagues (2016) describe how online “fat acceptance” blogs offer powerful support in the face of obesity stigma. In-depth interviews with 44 bloggers reveal where obese people experience stigmatization: health care, media, and the weight-loss industry.