Reviews with content warning for Fatphobia - Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia

Some very interesting info here that makes a strong case for fatphobia being rooted in racism, but it wasn’t written in a way I found particularly compelling. I wanted more analysis, more narrative, or a little more of both.

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amandadevoursbooks's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

In Fearing the Black Body, Sabrina Strings meticulously examines the history of white Western thought around race, body weight and health, and societal standards of beauty. It was a fascinating read. The depths of how eugenics shaped modern US/European society are horrifying, and this book pulls the threads cleanly out for the reader to examine the impact. Well worth the read.

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phdyke's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective

4.5

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astralfeline's review against another edition

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Very dense book with a lot of information. Listened to the audiobook and the narrator wasn't very engaging to listen to so it was hard to get through. What I did read was very interesting and I do want to pick it up again eventually maybe when I have a physical/ebook copy to annotate.

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snipinfool's review

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dark informative sad slow-paced

4.0

This book explored how fat phobia was rooted in racism. Sabrina Strings guided the reader throughout history with examples in art and medicine to show how larger bodies, initially seen as a positive attribute, slowly became a negative aspect that was often tied to race. The concept of race was a social construct that came about slowly after the late 1500's. Used to categorize people according to common characteristics, white Europeans used it to create a hierarchy of races in which they placed themselves at the top. Body size was one way whites would use to distance themselves from the non-white races. People who were thin or slim were seen as intelligent, motivated, hard working, and having other positive attributes. People who were fat were negatively thought to be lazy, slovenly, and less intelligent. Women were most often targeted for size and weight. White women in Europe and in America often tried to be as thin as possible to distance themselves from those they saw as undesirable. The medical community did not enter into the discussion of weight and body size until the early 1900's when discussion began around obesity.

This was an interesting read. The writing was very academic, and I often read it in short bursts to reflect on what I read. It frequently made me angry and frustrated. Those who were seen as the "experts" always chose someone who looked them in color and size as being the best. They were able to create a following, and their thoughts became accepted as the truth when there were no facts to back up their beliefs. It was all opinion. Doctors and the medical community entered the discussion long after people had decided that fat people, especially those who were non-white, were unacceptable. Ms. Strings did a good job of covering an extensive timeline to show how body size in relation to race and gender changed over time. We forget that what is accepted as true are not always tested findings. I am glad my daughter asked me to buddy read this with her.

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