Too Fat, Too Hairy, Too (In)visible: Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome and Normative Femininity

Abstract

It seems that there is much potential at the site of the PCOS body to transgress the boundaries of normative femininity. In many ways, the PCOS body already does just that. In all of its hairy, balding fatness, the PCOS body represents a challenge to what is expected of the female body. The problem is that it lacks visibility. It is hidden within the matrix of cultural expectations, and attempt to make the PCOS body visible are regulated not only by society but by women with PCOS as well. Will future attempts by the PCOSA and other organizations like it ever make the PCOS body a body that matters? Perhaps working in conjunction with NAAFA or other organizations fighting for the acceptance of diversity in body type and kind is one way of doing so, but until then, the PCOS body will remain invisible, a hairy, balding, infertile fat body shuffling along in the dark made visible only when subject to ridicule and regulation.