24 November 2023
by Sarah Pritchard
Third year student, MA in Christian Spirituality
The idea of researching the relationship between diet culture and theology first came to me while I was preparing for the module Relocated Religion, exploring where people may find a place of ‘relocated religion,’ and encountered the work of Professor Hannah Bacon.
What started as a small in-class project has become a significant area of theological interest for me. The subject became the focus of my module assignment and I have since presented a paper focused on female corporeality and religion at a conference at KU Leuven, Belgium. Last month, I joined the Café Theologique gathering at Reading University where the chaplaincy team provide a space in a local brewery bar for an informal, friendly presentation or interview around a theological subject, followed by a Q&A. It was a fantastic evening and my fears of not being able to answer all the questions thankfully did not come to pass!
My work on the subject argues that the interplay between societal ideals placed on the female body and Christian spirituality have always been complex, resulting in diet culture becoming ingrained in modern day Christian thought. My research focuses on the female body specifically; while men are increasingly subject to diet culture messages as well, in the main, it has been the female form at the heart of diet culture’s modification messages.
Diet culture teaches that the ‘thin ideal’ should be sought above all other things. Fat is bad, thin is good. Attaining the perfect body means true success. Diet culture is a multibillion-dollar industry – there is money to be made from people, namely women, hating their bodies. Prof Bacon argues that the dignity of women’s bodies is at stake where the diet culture narrative is concerned.
In my research, I examine the ways in which the ‘thin ideal’ has permeated Christian thought. After dissecting some of the more shocking diets found within the Christian tradition, I eventually turn to the Health at Every Size movement to offer some principles which I believe the church can draw on to ensure those of all shapes and sizes do not encounter environments, and theologies, which discriminate and judge based only on the size of a person’s body.
Professor Hannah Bacon is leading a half-day online course on 15 May 2024, Theology and Dieting: Feminist Explorations
Details and link to book Theology and Dieting: Feminist Exploration course
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