The representation of fatness in media has long been a subject of scrutiny, often intertwined with discourses of desirability, stigma, humor, and social control. Whether in films, advertisements, cartoons, or social media, fat bodies are frequently portrayed through the lens of excess, deviance, or comic relief, shaping cultural perceptions and reinforcing existing hierarchies of appearance and worth. This issue seeks to explore the multiple ways in which fatness is constructed and negotiated across various media forms, interrogating its intersections with gender, sexuality, class, power, and social anxieties.

We invite submissions that engage critically with the politics of fat representation in media, particularly focusing on Indian and global contexts. Scholars working in media studies, cultural studies, gender studies, visual studies, and related disciplines are encouraged to contribute. Possible topics for submission include, but are not limited to:

• How are fat bodies visualized in contemporary Indian digital and print media?
• The role of humour, stereotyping, and exaggeration in the portrayal of fatness.
• Fatness and marriageability: How films construct desirability and rejection based on body size.
• Intersectionality of caste, class, and gender in fat representation.
• Fat queer bodies in Indian graphic narratives: representations and resistance.
• The intersection of gender nonconformity and fatness in visual storytelling.
• The use of fatness to signify greed, power, and evil in fantasy genres.
• Historical and contemporary trends in the depiction of fat villains.
• Representation of fatness in children’s programming: inclusivity vs. marginalization.
• The potential of animation as a medium for counter-narratives on fatness.
• The psychological and cultural implications of associating fatness with monstrosity.
• Hypersexualisation of plus-sized bodies in online spaces.
• The role of filters, digital modifications, and curated aesthetics in shaping fat representation.
• Social media, influencer culture, and the commodification of body positivity.
• The intersection of horror, sci-fi, and body politics
• Metaphorical implications of consumption and expansion in speculative fiction.

The full paper submission date is 1st January 2026. The submitted research papers will be reviewed, and responses will be sent by 15th March 2026.  The special issue will be published in the journal Intersections: Gender and Sexuality in Asia and the Pacific. The journal is also known as Intersections (Australia). Its ISSN is 1440-9151. It is a highly reputed journal indexed in both Scopus and Web of Science, and currently placed in Q2. It is published by The Australian National University and has a long and rich history of publishing scholarship on gender and sexuality as an open-access journal without charging any APC.

 Special Issue Guest Editor

 Neha Kumari is an assistant professor at Sri Balaji University Pune, India. She has completed her PhD from IIT(ISM) Dhanbad. She has published research articles in reputed journals, indexed in Scopus and Web of Science. Neha is the editor of Fat Studies, Taylor & Francis. She is an academic editor of the Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities and an editorial board member of the Indian Journal of Health, Sexuality, and Culture. Her areas of interest include Gender and Sexuality Studies, Fat Studies, Film Studies, Transgender Studies, Cultural Studies, and Women's Studies and Communication.