Reviews tagging 'Eating disorder'

You Just Need to Lose Weight: And 19 Other Myths About Fat People by Aubrey Gordon

61 reviews

makbrandt's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder and Fatphobia

knit_the_resistance's review against another edition

dark informative reflective fast-paced

4.0

If you haven't listened to Maintenance Phase, you probably should. Everyone should listen to/read this book, it's important. 
However.
If I'm not mistaken, the book is a series of blog posts or essays strung together. Or at least that's how they read. Rarely have I listened to a book that needed editing for continuity more. It is so intensely repetitive --even within the same essay, let alone among chapters, that it was hard to maintain attention at times. 
The author relies on the wire deep and deeply. I found myself counting the repetitions. Frustrating, because I like the podcast.
But the podcast feels like haranguing, and the book feels like the podcast. So. I didn't love it, but it's important. 
One minor comment: the last chapter deals with "fat phobia is the last sanctioned form of discrimination" but goes on to discuss the countless other forms of discrimination in American society. It very pointedly does not mention antisemitism, which I found an interesting oversight. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Transphobia, Medical content, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria

katekatiekait's review against another edition

challenging reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming

Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Racism, Transphobia, and Dysphoria

Minor: Police brutality, Colonisation, Dysphoria, and Classism

kimac's review against another edition

funny informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, and Fatphobia

Moderate: Eating disorder

abitbetterbooks's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective fast-paced

4.75

Amazing. My first Aubrey Gordon book but I will definitely be reading her other work! I loved listening to the audiobook since it was narrated by Gordon herself and it added that extra personal element which I really enjoyed. 

This book does a great job of moving through issues in a really thorough manner. My only issue with the book was that because each myth/chapter was self contained or could be read in isolation / out of order, there were some elements that were repeated that felt unnecessary when listening through the whole thing in chronological order. But even still, that did serve to continue driving some key points home. As someone who considers herself fairly well versed in fat liberation & fat studies, diet culture & eating disorders, I still found myself learning new things! In particular I found that Gordon has a way of perfectly wording things and distilling big themes and issues down to key elements that would be really helpful to have in ones arsenal to confront anti-fatness wherever you may Glen counter it! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming and Fatphobia

Moderate: Ableism

Minor: Eating disorder, Homophobia, Racism, Sexism, Transphobia, Medical content, Acephobia/Arophobia, Colonisation, and Classism

mmccombs's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

I could listen to Aubrey Gordon all day! I listen to her podcast and read her first book, so I immediately had to pick this one up, too. This book continues and expands upon her work and showcases her ability to make fairly complex and nuanced issues approachable. I don’t necessarily think I got anything new from this book that I didn’t get from her first, but I do think looking at the same topic from multiple angles continues to help me break down my own biased thought patterns. I also love how many resources Gordon provides in this book, between reflection questions and further reading recommendations that center intersectionality. Would definitely recommend either of her books as great entry points into fat activism, especially for straight sized people who are starting to unpack their biases.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder and Fatphobia

bayleereads's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

Aubrey Gordon does it again! As a fat person, listening to this book healed parts of my own anti-fat biases towards myself, and towards the fat community. I highly recommend this book to everyone, but definitely more to people who are passionate about human rights and social justice, and to those who haven’t had the chance to unpack their own anti-fat bias/fatphobia yet. The format was really digestible, and I really appreciated that every chapter included reflection questions, as well as actions readers/listeners can take to fight for fat justice. I BEG OF YOU TO READ THIS-- especially if you have a fat friend or family member, provide medical or mental health treatment to fat folks, or if you tell yourself “I don’t mind fatness in others, I just don’t want to be fat myself.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Eating disorder, and Fatphobia

dalmavatai's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

I was familiar with many themes and issues the book deals with but this was still a very interesting read. It was quite repetitive as the key points of the argument were repeated throughout each chapter which got a bit tedious to read. Regardless, a well-researched, well-argued and highly important book that everyone should probably read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, and Fatphobia

caseythereader's review against another edition

challenging informative slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Racism, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Classism

Minor: Homophobia and Xenophobia

throwback682's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective

5.0

This book was very informative, with a mixture of peer reviewed research and personal experiences of the author and others. Each myth was discussed in detail and then followed by questions for self reflection and/or concrete suggestions for actions to take in support of fat acceptance. The author does a great job of explaining both the systemic and personal impacts of anti fatness, as well as how it interacts with other systems of oppression such as racism, misogyny, or ableism. As someone who is small fat (US women’s size 18) I feel I learned a lot about how to address fatphobia that is leveled towards me, but also how to be a better ally to those fatter than me. As the author notes, its chapters could easily be read out of order if there are certain myths that appeal (or challenge you) more. This book also contains many suggestions for further reading throughout. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Sexism, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Acephobia/Arophobia, Murder, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Classism, and Deportation