Reading and Rewriting Fat Romance: A Study of Twenty-First Century Thai and US Fat Romance Novels

In the thesis I explore how selected twenty-first century fat romance novels construct, perpetuate, and – in some cases – challenge understandings of gender, fatness, and relationships in two different cultural and social contexts. The fat female body is not usually considered to be an attractive or sexual body in Thai and western culture (Ravangban 223; Gailey 114; Murray 237). Hence, the representation of fat women, especially in terms of their dating and sexual experiences, is lacking. I suggest that fat romance novels are a key popular cultural form that not only places fat women at the center of a narrative, but can also depict them as sexual beings. Weaving my personal reflection into this academic research, the study focusses on the following three significant themes that arose from my reading: 1.) how the ambiguously gendered fat body can elicit disgust in Chapter 1; 2.) the construction of the masculinities of the fat romance heroes in Chapter 2 and 3; and 3.) the depiction of the intersection of fatness and queerness through interrogating coming-out narratives in Chapter 4. My methodology in this thesis comprises two main methods: the close reading of my primary texts, and their “rewriting.” In rewriting, I take significant passages from the selected fat romance novels and revise them from the perspective of a fat woman (myself), who is struggling with her internalized fat hatred whilst attempting to embrace fat politics. Employing a reflexive approach in my analysis of the selected texts, I draw on the fields of fat studies, popular romance studies, masculinity studies (including female masculinities), queer studies, as well as the concept of disgust and pollution.