Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

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

7 reviews

amberinpieces's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming and Fatphobia

Moderate: Eating disorder and Dysphoria

Minor: Colonisation, Ableism, Slavery, Racism, Lesbophobia, Islamophobia, Transphobia, Classism, and Homophobia

msgslibrary's review against another edition

hopeful informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

An essential entry text for the current state of fat liberation philosophy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Medical trauma, Pandemic/Epidemic, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Police brutality, Fatphobia, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Mental illness, Ableism, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Racism, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Forced institutionalization, Classism, Misogyny, Transphobia, Genocide, Xenophobia, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Violence

bambooboy's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

I don't really have words for how important this book is. 

There are years of works available to us, shouting the dangers of anti-fat bias, the lies we are told; but Aubrey Gordon lays it out, step-by-step, in a way that is accessible and digestible. It solicits empathy in its honesty. Gordon does a great job too of offering other equally important titles of equally important voices on fat people and the history and now of how we treat each other. 

I wish I could shove this into the hands of everyone I meet! I kept reading passages and rereading them and wanting to post them but then realizing I'd be posting the entire chapter because that's how good every single chapter was. 

If you're a fan of Maintenance Phase you'll love this, though be aware that tonally it isn't as silly as her and Michael get together. It's much more serious. And if you're not a fan of Maintenance Phase but like this book, you should check out Gordon's podcast! They dive deep into different health crazes/diet books/health "influencers". They have a great chemistry and it's a good way to both laugh and rage at the machine. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Death, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Grief, Misogyny, Racism, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, and Medical content

Moderate: Chronic illness, Colonisation, Gaslighting, Hate crime, and Sexism

Minor: Sexual assault, Violence, Classism, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

Deeper discussion of content warnings below cut.

Gordon speaks in general on many topics that could be triggering, such as the medical malpractice many doctors partake in when they refuse to provide adequate healthcare for their fat patients, the general attitude toward fat people existing, etc.
She also gets into some specific stories about people who were disabled or died due to this malpractice. As a fat person Gordon also talks about all the aggressions, micro and macro, that she experiences or has experienced.

Overall the content is heavy, and I definitely suggest taking it slow, especially if you are someone who has had to deal with these traumatic experiences on the daily.

dillsbookdiary's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective fast-paced

3.75

this book was phenomenal! my main complaint, as someone who read it from beginning to end, is that there were several chapters that had 2-3 pages functionally repeating something said in a previous chapter. however, because this book was explicitly written with the intention of people reading it as separate entries, it didnt bother me that much. just something to note! aubrey did a fantastic job, as per usual, and even as someone who is fairly well versed in body liberation i still learned a ton that i was not previously aware of.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming and Fatphobia

Moderate: Bullying, Eating disorder, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Minor: Chronic illness, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Classism, Violence, Death, Racism, Child abuse, Colonisation, and Terminal illness

katekatiekait's review against another edition

challenging reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming

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

Minor: Colonisation, Dysphoria, Police brutality, and Classism

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: Fatphobia and Body shaming

Moderate: Ableism

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

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