Historical Representations of obese people

Q5. Consider if your group of people have always been represented the same way or has it changed over time?

In regards to history, obese people have been negatively represented, as signified in the early 1990s, with television shows such as Family Guy and the Simpsons. In these shows, Homer Simpson and Peter Griffin are alternatively represented as being immature, unhealthy and foolish.

Though, in the 2000s, obese people seemed to be positively represented as being more professional, as people such as Eamon Holmes, Fern Britton, Johnny Vegas , James Corden and many other obese celebrities have managed to be accepted in society and are hugely successful in the media. Therefore, there has been a change in the representation of obese people since the 1990s, as obese people are successful across the media and seem to be accepted in society for who they are.

However, the global concern of obesity , has resulted in a moral panic in society, as people are worried about the effects of obesity and the fact that millions of people are dying. In accordance, society is more health conscious, as the government is trying to solve the problem of obesity which is estimated to cost 9.1bn to treat obesity, as over a million people in the UK are obese.