Prof. Kate Manne, author of “Unshrinking: How to Face Fatphobia,” and Cat Bohannon, New York Times bestselling author of “Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution,” will lead a discussion March 5 about female and fat evolution, addressing topics such as fatphobia, misogyny and morality.
“Is Fat Female? Evolution, Feminism, and Getting the Story Right” will take place from 5 to 6:30 p.m. in the Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium, Room 132, Goldwin Smith Hall. The event is free and open to the public.
In their discussion of fat and the female human body, Manne will address moralism, Ozempic and diet culture, while Bohannon will focus on human evolution and what happens when scientific research doesn't center men and male bodies.
In “Eve,” Bohannon details the evolution of modern-day human understanding of the female body. “We have to put the female body in the picture,” she writes. “If we don’t, it’s not just feminism that’s compromised. Modern medicine, neurobiology, paleoanthropology, even evolutionary biology all take a hit when we ignore the fact that half of us have breasts.”
A New York Times review described “Eve” as “a page-turning whistle-stop tour of mammalian development that begins in the Jurassic Era...’Eve’ recasts the traditional story of evolutionary biology by placing women at its center.”
Bohannon received her Ph.D. from Columbia University, where she studied evolution of narrative and cognition. Her work has appeared in numerous publications, including Science, The Atlantic, Scientific American, The Best American Nonrequired Reading, Lapham’s Quarterly, The Georgia Review and Poets Against the War.
Manne’s newest book, “Unshrinking,” was a finalist for the National Book Award and was listed as a 2024 “must-read” book by numerous publications, including NPR, The New Yorker and Forbes. The book delves into Manne’s personal experiences and research on size discrimination. As Manne explains it, fatphobia is a social system that unfairly ranks bodies according to thinness, “in terms of not only our health but also our moral, sexual and intellectual status.”
Manne, associate professor of philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences, focuses on moral, feminist and social philosophy in her research. Her first book, “Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny,” defines misogyny as the hostility women and girls face that serves to enforce gendered norms, even in supposedly post-patriarchal societies. She continued to explore misogyny’s norms and expectations in her second book, “Entitled: How Male Privilege Hurts Women.”
Manne and Bohannan will also discuss themes related to this event in a virtual conversation that will be livestreamed on March 6 from 10-11 a.m. The event is free and open to the public and will be hosted by eCornell.
“Is Fat Female” is co-sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences and the Departments of Philosophy, Literatures in English, Anthropology and Romance Studies.
Tenzin Kunsang '25 is a student assistant in the Sage School of Philosophy.
