We’ve all been in that situation before – going out clothes shopping with your best friend and she whines about her thighs being too fat for that pair of skinny jeans.
“Fat talk”, as it’s called, is a body-denigrating conversation between women of all ages that is also seen as a bonding ritual amongst women. However, research shows that most women do not enjoy or admire other women who fat talk.
Alexandra F. Corning, a research associate professor in psychology at the University of Notre Dame, thought about the idea for the study when she wondered if a woman’s size would affect her likeability when she engaged in fat talk.
“If women are engaging in fat talk in the hope of strengthening their social bonds, their attempts may backfire, as the women who fat-talked were generally perceived as less likeable,” says Dr.Corning.
The lead researcher said the findings would be important to help curb the phenomenon linked to eating disorders. “Although it has become a regular part of everyday conversation, ‘fat talk’ is far from innocuous.
“It is strongly associated with, and can even cause, body dissatisfaction, which is a known risk factor for the development of eating disorders.”
Dr. Corning conducted an online experiment by showing 139 female students four types of photos. The photos were of either thin or overweight women, and it came along with a caption relating to either a fat-talk statement or positive body talk.
The results show that participants preferred women whose quotes suggested that they were happy with their bodies as compared to those who fat-talk, no matter what they looked like. The most likeable woman chosen by the students was overweight and was quoted saying: “I know I’m not perfect, but I love the way I look. I know how to work with what I’ve got, and that’s all that matters.”
Fat talk or any other form of negative body talk does not only affect a woman’s likeability. Dr Corning’s research from previous studies also show that this “contagious” habit of poor body image can lead to many body image issues.
