title: 'Fat girls' and 'big guys': gendered meanings of weight loss surgery.
abstract: Over 80% of weight loss surgery (WLS) patients are women, yet gender is overwhelmingly absent in WLS research. This article discusses the findings of 54 interviews with twenty-one women and six men waiting for WLS in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. We critically examine the ways that gender shapes the meaning of WLS in these narratives. We explore gendered meanings in participants' perspectives on their embodied experiences before surgery, social support as they decided to undergo the procedure, and their expectations for their lives after WLS. We draw on feminist theory to explain how these findings counter the dominant gender-neutral medical model of obesity.
authors: Faculty of Medicine/School of Pharmacy, Memorial University, Canada.
authors: Julia Temple
authors: JT
authors: Newhook
authors: Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University, Canada.
authors: Deborah
authors: D
authors: Gregory
authors: Faculty of Medicine/School of Pharmacy, Memorial University, Canada.
authors: Laurie
authors: L
authors: Twells
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D050110:Bariatric Surgery / Q000523:psychology*; D001828:Body Image / Q000523:psychology; D001835:Body Weight; D019513:Feminism; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000523:psychology* / Q000601:surgery*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012737:Sex Factors; D057545:Social Stigma; D012944:Social Support; D012962:Sociology, Medical; D015431:Weight Loss
keywords: Canada; gender; obesity; qualitative research; weight loss surgery