Dying while fat: Post-mortem inequality

Like all people, fat people will die. Yet, fat people are particularly likely not only to die of anti-fatness, but also to be perceived as blameworthy for their own deaths. I argue that fat people are subject to postmortem inequality and discrimination via exclusionary death and dying technologies. I show that fat people’s dignity and right to choice in death are constrained. I highlight how technologies relating to both cremation and burial – the two most common options for postmortem disposition – both convey additional burdens for fat people and their loved ones, and highlight how contemporary mediation of death via technology can perpetuate anti-fat discrimination. I review the financial and emotional burdens of dying while fat, with an eye toward enhancing social justice and equity in death.