Intention

Criticize fatphobia and prejudices against fat people

Your assignment asks you to focus on the speaker’s intention. One of Kelli Jean Drinkwater’s intentions with her TED talk “Enough with the fear of fat” is to expose and criticize those who judge fat people because of fatphobia. To achieve this intention, Drinkwater first makes her audience aware of their own fatphobia, using humor: “…you may have been thinking, ‘Aww, this is gonna be hilarious, because everybody knows that fat people are funny.’ (Laughter)” (ll. 8-9); “You may have wondered, consciously or not, if I have diabetes, or a partner, or if I eat carbs after 7pm. (Laughter)” (ll. 14-15).

She then pursues her aim by drawing comparisons and looking at the underlying causes of fatphobia: “Like any form of systematic oppression, fatphobia is deeply rooted in complex structures like capitalism, patriarchy and racism, and that can make it really difficult to see, let alone challenge.” (ll. 20-21).

Using antithesis, Drinkwater manages to outline the absurdity of judging people based on their looks: “…being fat is seen as being a bad person – ...