Weight loss, cure, and temporality in the “Diet Capital of the World”: Disciplining fatness in Durham, North Carolina

Abstract

This article argues that Durham, North Carolina configures itself as a place for weight loss through its dieting industry and its identity as the “Diet Capital of the World.” Building from archival data from the 1930s through the 1980s, I trace the historical development of Durham’s diet industry. Following work in crip studies this article theorizes weight loss as a “cure” that works to remove fatness from individual bodies and remove fat people from the future. Engaging with work in urban geography and critical geographies of fatness, this article analyzes how anti-fatness and place co-produce each other across scales in the city. The Rice Houses and Durham’s broader dieting landscape illustrate how places are created for spatial and temporal disciplining of fat bodies. Attending to these sites, this article understands how anti-fat cure constructs places to discipline fat people’s bodies and create futures without fatness.