Deviant bodies and queer belongings in Rural America: Interventions from <i>Somebody Somewhere</i> (2022–2024)

The paper employs the theoretical framework of Queer Theory and the disciplinary framework of fat studies to read the television series Somebody Somewhere as a positive intervention in the representation of fat and queer bodies. Showcasing the fault lines of heteronormative temporality and kinship patterns and replacing them with viable alternatives of queer/ed fat time and queer joy, this paper argues that queer kinship leads to a process of “unbecoming” for fat bodies, allowing for acceptance and celebration of selfhood through queer temporality. The analysis highlights the everyday visibility of aging fat bodies in the series to contend with their exoticisation and showcase systemic inequalities that permeate the everyday. This paper proposes the examined visual text as an alternative to the representation of fat bodies in visual culture, focusing on giving fat bodies more screen space rather than discourse space and seeing them as individuals within a fatphobic system rather than symbols of an identity trope.