Jason Whitesel is Associate Professor of Sociology and Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies at Illinois State University and the author Fat Gay Men: Girth, Mirth, and the Politics of Stigma.

"[A]n interesting look at how a doubly marginalized population negotiates and reconstructs stigma by coming together to perform ritualistic acts in order to regain a consciousness of normalcy in their lives. Its an important source for understanding the subjective experience of being fat, suffering as an interactive experience, and the reactive comportment to size discrimination in gay society." (Communication Booknotes Quarterly) "This examination offatgaymen, a marginalized and stigmatized group within the already marginalized and stigmatized group of homosexualmenin general, is a critical missing piece in GLBTQ studies . . . [a] valuable contribution for those interested infatstudies as well asgaystudies." (Choice)

• Acknowledgments Introduction: An Ethnographer among Girth & Mirthers 1. Coming Together 2. Injuries Big Gay Men Suffer 3. Performing the Fat Body 4. Big Gay Men's Struggle for Class Distinction 5. Shame Reconfigured Conclusion: Beyond Simply Managing Stigma Methodological Appendix Theoretical Appendix: Analytical Framework of Stigma, Camp, Carnival, and PlayNotes References Index About the Author

Jason Whitesel is Associate Professor of Sociology and Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies at Illinois State University and the author Fat Gay Men: Girth, Mirth, and the Politics of Stigma.

"[A]n interesting look at how a doubly marginalized population negotiates and reconstructs stigma by coming together to perform ritualistic acts in order to regain a consciousness of normalcy in their lives. Its an important source for understanding the subjective experience of being fat, suffering as an interactive experience, and the reactive comportment to size discrimination in gay society." (Communication Booknotes Quarterly) "This examination offatgaymen, a marginalized and stigmatized group within the already marginalized and stigmatized group of homosexualmenin general, is a critical missing piece in GLBTQ studies . . . [a] valuable contribution for those interested infatstudies as well asgaystudies." (Choice)

• Acknowledgments Introduction: An Ethnographer among Girth & Mirthers 1. Coming Together 2. Injuries Big Gay Men Suffer 3. Performing the Fat Body 4. Big Gay Men's Struggle for Class Distinction 5. Shame Reconfigured Conclusion: Beyond Simply Managing Stigma Methodological Appendix Theoretical Appendix: Analytical Framework of Stigma, Camp, Carnival, and PlayNotes References Index About the Author