Rhetoric of Health and Medicine Apr 2019 Open Access

Too Fat to be President? Chris Christie and Fat Stigma as Rhetorical Disability

Elisabeth Miller

Abstract

Analyzing media discourse around Chris Christie’s fatness and fitness for the presidency, this essay examines how stigma constrains the rhetorical resources of individuals who transgress norms of bodies, health, and ability. To do so, I extend two concepts in the rhetoric of health and medicine: rhetorical disability (challenges to ethos precipitated by stigma) and recuperative ethos (Molloy, 2015) (efforts to rebuild ethos in light of rhetorical disability). I make two interrelated claims: 1) fat stigma is rhetorically disabling in the cultural logics of the obesity epidemic, and 2) since fat stigma in this context operates as a rhetorical disability, Christie seeks to recuperate his ethos by presenting himself as a viable leader. While scholars have theorized that “rhetorical disability” is incited by stigma around mental disability (Price, 2011; Johnson, 2010; Prendergast, 2001), I show how fat stigma similarly produces a disabling rhetorical effect: as Christie works to recuperate ethos, fat is taken up as an argument about health, morality, and individual failure.

Journal
Rhetoric of Health and Medicine
Published
2019-04-16
DOI
10.5744/rhm.2019.1003
CompPile
Search in CompPile ↗
Open Access
OA PDF Gold
Topics
rhetorical criticism discourse analysis argument disability studies
Export
BibTeX RIS

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (3)

  1. Buisker (2024)
    Articulating Hierarchical Victimhood: Rhetorical Mirroring in Anti-Fat and Rape…
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  2. Larson (2021)
    The Rhetoricity of Fat Stigma: Mental Disability, Pain, and Anorexia Nervosa
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  3. Cannon et al. (2021)
    Re/producing Knowledge in Health and Medicine: Designing Research Methods for M…
    Technical Communication Quarterly

References (0)

No references on file for this article.

CrossRef global citation count: 7 View in citation network → Build reading path →

Related Articles

  1. Philosophy & Rhetoric Apr 2025
    Introduction: On the Desirability of Speaking to Others ↗
    Nirvana Tanoukhi; Nicholas Dunn
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism discourse analysis argument social media race and writing gender and writing disability studies public rhetoric literary studies editorial matter
  2. Philosophy & Rhetoric Sep 2024
    Where’s the Rhetoric? Imagining a Unified Field ↗
    Joshua Hanan
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism composition theory genre theory discourse analysis cultural rhetorics argument qualitative research quantitative research digital rhetoric social media grammar and mechanics gender and writing disability studies public rhetoric affect and writing body and rhetoric editorial matter
  3. Rhetoric & Public Affairs Sep 2024
    Populist Rhetorics Case Studies and a Minimalist Definition ↗
    Arthur E. Walzer
    classical rhetoric modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism discourse analysis argument digital rhetoric social media disability studies public rhetoric editorial matter
  4. Rhetoric & Public Affairs Jun 2024
    Organs for Sale: Bioethics, Neoliberalism, and Public Moral Deliberation ↗
    Sam Shear
    rhetorical criticism discourse analysis argument social media disability studies public rhetoric editorial matter
  5. Rhetoric & Public Affairs Jun 2024
    Rhetorical Leadership ↗
    Catherine L. Langford
    rhetorical criticism genre theory discourse analysis feminist rhetorics cultural rhetorics decolonial rhetorics graduate education argument empirical research qualitative research race and writing gender and writing disability studies public rhetoric affect and writing body and rhetoric editorial matter