Preview: The Weight of Expectation

Sociologist Dr Oli Williams and illustrator Jade Sarson have worked together to create a comic about the stigma faced by obese people on a daily basis. Using research, interviews and photography, the group created the Weight of Expectation (WoE), a piece that the creators hope will challenge readers’ views of obesity that are prevalent within society.

Oli spoke to Bristol24/7 about the aims of the work:

Why did you choose to create a comic, and not a book or an online article?

Research is usually communicated in very ‘wordy’ ways. For instance, the WoE comic is based on an 80,000 word thesis. Not many people will have the time or inclination to read an 80,000 thesis, so if researchers want people to know about their research findings they need to think of ways to communicate it that is both accessible and engaging.

Illustration can be a powerful way of communicating a message, and comics are such an accessible medium. People of all ages can read a comic, and often the pictures speak for themselves.

Stigma associated with body size, shape and weight is such an important issue that we wanted to present our research findings in a way that would make people want to engage with them and feel that they could. A comic allows us to do this – people can read it from start to finish in a few minutes, and Jade’s illustrations are so evocative that they engage people emotionally and encourage them to reflect on this important issue.

A page from the highly-detailed comic, drawn by Jade Sarson

Did you enjoy the Weight of Expectation project?

This project has been a labour of love. I had the idea to translate this research into a comic about five years ago after reading Katie Green’s brilliantly observed graphic novel about anorexia Lighter than my Shadow, and seeing parallels with the experiences of people who attended the NHS-subsided weight loss groups I was researching at the time. Though it was only more recently that I was in position to make it happen.

Working with Jade on this project has been incredibly enjoyable. She is a very talented illustrator with a particular talent for conveying emotion on the page. Coming up with a story that stayed true to the experiences of the people in the weight loss groups was challenging but enjoyable. Since then, it has been gratifying but depressing that so many people have recognised their own experiences in our comic.

Oli says it has been “gratifying but depressing” to hear that the comic reflects the experience of so many people

Who decided on the name?

‘The weight of expectation is the name of a theoretical concept that I developed in my research. I wanted to visualise it, as I thought that would be a useful way of explaining it to people. It describes the process where feelings of guilt and shame provoked by behaving in ways that are negatively moralised and stigmatised, like eating high fat and high sugar foods, come to be felt in the flesh. So people come to feel ‘heavier’ and ‘bigger’ even when they haven’t put on weight.

What they are feeling is the weight of expectation – the stigma and negative moral judgements tied up with behaviours associated with weight gain that get under the skin and confuse our relationship with our body. The concept highlights how using stigma is therefore an ineffective way of promoting health and that we need a different approach. People need support, not stigma.

Why did you start to look at obesity in a research context?

I’ve always been interested in cultures of eating and people’s relationship with their bodies. I brought this interest into my work on health inequalities, which investigates why living in deprived areas can have a detrimental impact on people’s health.

What angered me is that obesity is generally presented as an outcome of individual choices made by irresponsible people who are placing an unnecessary burden on the NHS, when actually we have lots of evidence that shows obesity is largely driven by social factors. So blaming and stigmatising people for being obese unfairly discriminates against people who are disadvantaged by inequality.

I wanted my research to help people to better understand the causes of obesity, and why reducing social inequality is a far more effective and fair way of promoting health than focusing on individual responsibility and behaviour change.’

The comic also aims to be an uplifting way to promote good health

Oli and Jade will be at Christmas Steps Gallery on July 19 to launch the comic, speak the work that went into its production and chair a panel discussion to raise awareness about stigma towards obesity. They also aim to show people more about what it’s actually like to be obese, as the reality is often very far from societal views that many misinterpret as the truth.

Tickets are free but registration is essential. Visit www.eventbrite.co.uk/weight-of-expectation to find out more.

The Weight of Expectation will be exhibited at Christmas Steps Gallery from July 17-21, where limited edition copies of the comic will be available to buy.