A Canadian gender studies professor claims new drugs deployed in the fight against obesity is a “dangerous” new front in the culture war on “fatphobia.”
Fady Shanouda is an associate professor at the Feminist Institute of Social Transformation at Carleton University who specializes in “fat studies” and “fatphobia.” On Monday, the fat studies professor wrote the new hype around Ozempic, a type 2 diabetes medication being prescribed off-label to induce weight loss, perpetuated the “harmful idea of a future without fat.”
“It is steeped in fat-hatred that could further damage our relationships to our bodies and food,” Shanouda explained. “The language used around Ozempic is about ending the so called ‘obesity epidemic.’ The very description is laced with the idea of eradicating fat people.”
Shanouda went on to note Ozempic, the name-brand medication for semaglutide, fails to “cure obesity.”
“Certain users of the drug have lost significant weight, but they will need to take this costly medication in perpetuity,” the professor wrote.
In May, The Wall Street Journal titled coverage of the new medication with the headline “Obesity Could Be Pharma’s Biggest Blockbuster Yet.”
“Patient testimonies have focused not only on the dramatic effect on their waistlines, but also on how quickly many seem to pack the pounds back on if they stop taking the injections,” the Journal reported. “That may not be ideal for patients, but for Wall Street it is a feature rather than a bug.”
According to Shanouda, however, the primary problem with Ozempic extends to the
