American Airlines Passenger Summary
An American Airline passage Amber Philips took to twitter claims that cops were called on her because of travelling while black and fat. Amber posted several tweets claiming that she was seated by the window on a plane heading to Washington DC when the white woman seated next to her insisted that she move over because Amber’s hand was touching hers. Amber claimed that the seatmate continued to indicate with her body language that she was irritated and bothered. When the plane landed, the white woman told the attendant that Amber was assaulting and harassing her. The police got involved but the two were released when the police determined that nothing wrong was done (Salo). American Airlines gave a statement saying that two passengers were engaged in verbal exchange while on board and upon landing, one of them requested a flight attendant to involve the police.
Analysis
How compliance with culturally white feminine bodies is secured through surveillance and violence of the fat person according to Rice.
In a research conducted by Rice, women revealed that surveillance and violence of fat girls caused many women to develop poor eating habits such as starving themselves, dieting, and bingeing. When the fat women fail to fit into different fields, they are encouraged to enforce dieting routines in order to remake their bodies to fit into the culturally white feminine bodies. Rice says that the pressures to conform with the culturally white feminine body are connected to societal pressures to comply with the weight norms constructed by culture. When compliance with culturally white feminine body is enforced through dieting routines, individuals may develop life-long struggles with eating, which make some women develop compulsive and secretive eating habits. Conformity with the cultural “normal” feminine body is also secured by violently controlling an individual’s body and appetite.
As Rice says, “black women are perceived to be more aggressive, masculine, and athletic as compared to other races” (Rice, 169). The perception of black women as being more masculine may intermingle with the perception that being fat makes them less active, important, or being able to identify themselves as neither male nor female. In the article “American Airlines passenger: Cops were called on me for flying fat and black”, the white female passenger clearly depicts this perception of fat black women as being less active and important. The passenger felt irritated and bothered by Amber not just because of touching arms but also because Amber was fat and black and did not conform to the culturally white feminine body.
How the woman’s fatness and Blackness exposed her to violence and how she challenged that violence.
Amber Philips claimed that a white female passenger seated next to her constantly made it known that Amber was bothering her because their arms were touching. Being black and fat, Amber experienced negative perceptions about her color as well as her body size. In the research conducted by Rice, a participant named Sharon explains that being black and fat is the worst thing one can ever be because one feels like they do not belong anywhere (Rice, 169). People will disqualify a fat black women’s gender and their physical activity and importance. In the case of Amber, she could experience double victimization due to the fact that she was black and fat.
Works Cited
Rice, Carla. “Becoming “the fat girl”: Acquisition of an unfit identity.” Women’s Studies International Forum. Vol. 30. No. 2. Pergamon, 2007.
Salo, Jackie American Airlines passenger: Cops were called on me for flying ‘fat and black’. New York Post, 30 April 2018, https://nypost.com/2018/04/30/american-airlines-passenger-cops-were-called-since-i-was-flying-fat-and-black/