Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

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

17 reviews

ichewonpushpins's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

3.75

This book is great for people new to the conversation of fat liberation, body neutrality, and the myths of fatness. If you want to know how to be a better ally to your fat loved ones, this is a great place to start. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Medical content, Classism, Eating disorder, Body shaming, and Chronic illness

Minor: Sexual assault

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

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, Chronic illness, Bullying, Eating disorder, and Fatphobia

caseythereader's review against another edition

challenging informative slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Xenophobia and Homophobia

phoenix2818's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia

Moderate: Body shaming

Minor: Biphobia, Transphobia, Homophobia, Misogyny, Medical content, Racism, Ableism, Body shaming, and Chronic illness

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

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

erica_reads_things's review against another edition

informative reflective slow-paced

4.25

Another well done, informative, and mindful piece by Aubrey. I loved the format of this book, though I thought there would be a bit more storytelling as opposed to text-book-like content like her first book. Still loved it, still incredible information, just wish there would have been more narrative. 
All in all, a must read for a great intro to fat activism and to start unpacking anti-fat bias. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Medical trauma, and Fatphobia

Moderate: Ableism, Sexual assault, and Eating disorder

Minor: Homophobia, Mental illness, Classism, Drug use, Transphobia, Misogyny, Chronic illness, Sexism, and Racism