Summary

Part III begins with Gay explaining that her twenties were the worst years of her life, punctuated by a personal life she classifies as an "unending disaster" (115) and pressure from her family to lose weight. As she describes what it was like to live as a fat woman in her twenties, Gay transitions into a tone more akin to social critique and begins analyzing some of the ways American society stigmatizes fat bodies, specifically women's bodies, on a daily basis.

Gay's first major critique is of the popular television show The Biggest Loser, in which contestants compete in an intensive months-long weight loss regimen and are awarded prize money if they lose more weight than others. Gay explains that the show fundamentally disturbs her because "There is the constant shaming of fat people and the medical professionals who take every opportunity to crow...