Reviews tagging 'Fatphobia'

Butts: A Backstory by Heather Radke

18 reviews

mikaylawood's review

informative lighthearted reflective medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Racism, and Fatphobia

kelly_e's review

informative reflective medium-paced

3.25

Title: Butts: A Backstory
Author: Heather Radke
Genre: Non Fiction
Rating: 3.25
Pub Date: November 29, 2022

T H R E E • W O R D S

Interesting • Thoughtful • Cheeky

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Whether we love them or hate them, think they’re sexy, think they’re strange, consider them too big, too small, or anywhere in between, humans have a complicated relationship with butts. It is a body part unique to humans, critical to our evolution and survival, and yet it has come to signify so much more: sex, desire, comedy, shame. A woman’s butt, in particular, is forever being assessed, criticized, and objectified, from anxious self-examinations trying on jeans in department store dressing rooms to enduring crass remarks while walking down a street or high school hallways. But why?

💭 T H O U G H T S

Butts was never on my TBR until it was selected as one of the featured curated titles for the A-Z challenge in my online book club. Would I have read it otherwise? Probably not. Did it make me pause and offer up moments of reflection? Absolutely.

This cultural history covers a lot of ground - nearly 200 years of cultural, evolutionary, political and anatomical history of the butt, particularly the female butt. I don't think I have ever really took such significant time to reflect on everything the female butt has come to symbolize. I enjoyed getting an in-depth look into how trends have changed over time and the aspects that have helped changed these standards over the eras. There are quite a few pop culture references and talk about the butts that have defined modern generations.

Butts is definitely a unique look into one specific body part, and I would highly recommend the audio, which reads like an in-depth report. I am not sure if I would be able to get through eye-ball reading such a book. It may have been a step outside of something I would normally read, yet it has sparked a different kind of awareness into the sexualization of butts that I think will stick with me.

📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• cultural history
• investigative reporting
• butts

⚠️ CW: racism, cultural appropriation, body shaming, fatphobia, misogyny, sexism, classism, colonization, slavery, eating disorder, sexual assault, medical content, medical trauma 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Misogyny, Sexism, Fatphobia, and Body shaming

Moderate: Racism, Slavery, Racial slurs, Classism, and Colonisation

Minor: Eating disorder, Medical content, Sexual assault, and Medical trauma

kathrynreading's review against another edition

emotional funny informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

A really interesting look at the European and North American female body, in particular the butt over the last 200+ years. From anatomy and evolution to antiblackness to standardized clothing sizes to exercise crazes and the women whose butts defined fashion. This book is a really interesting and thoughtful investigation of the butt and all it means culturally. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Classism, Racism, Fatphobia, Body shaming, and Colonisation

Moderate: Slavery and Sexual harassment

jrae_miller's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

A really entertaining look at the butt through history! I think the author kind of lost the thread of the book by the end, but it's possible that it just felt like a lot of repetition for me by the time I got there. I think there would be plenty more to write and read on the subject in the future!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Sexism, Misogyny, Fatphobia, Racism, and Classism

Moderate: Body shaming, Colonisation, Slavery, and Sexual violence

Minor: Eating disorder and Sexual violence

sophia_'s review

informative fast-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Racism, Fatphobia, Slavery, Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual violence

bookobsessedmommy's review

informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

I saw Butts on the GRCA, and was intrigued by the title.  Radke takes us on very interesting history lesson with tons of intersectionality. I was pleasantly surprised by how much scientific and sociological research was presented, and how well it all tied together. There were a lot of stories I'd heard in part before, like Sara Baartman, but getting more of the details brought into stark relief how long female bodies, especially black female bodies, have been objectified and moralized and how it never stops. The reality is sobering but also freeing in a way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Body shaming, Medical content, and Misogyny

Moderate: Drug use, Eating disorder, and Fatphobia

heydebigale's review against another edition

informative reflective

4.5

(4.5 stars)

I liked this one—a very good mix of history, pop culture and a bit of science. Fashion, fitness, drag, and music! I primarily listened to this one on audio and thought the narrator Emily Tremaine was good!

The bulk of this book focuses on the racial politics of the butt in the United States and England. I was hoping we would get a bit of perspectives outside the west… but that’s just not what this book is.

I was also hoping for more information about the recent trends in fitness to lift heavy to achieve bigger butts.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery

Moderate: Fatphobia and Racism

zombiezami's review

emotional funny informative lighthearted reflective medium-paced

4.25

This was very thoughtfully researched, organized, and written. I learned a lot and enjoyed this so much. My one suggestion that would have taken this from good to great would be if the author had included a chapter on trans women on HRT, and the range of feelings they have about estrogen changing their bodies. It could also cover queer beauty standards and how transphobia impacts body shaming, including butt shaming.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Sexual violence, Sexism, Racism, Kidnapping, Slavery, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Body shaming, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Rape, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Genocide, Grief, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Medical content, and Mental illness

Minor: Eating disorder, Homophobia, Biphobia, and Lesbophobia

onlyonebookshelf's review

funny informative reflective fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Fatphobia, Slavery, Homophobia, and Colonisation

booksoflore's review

informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Dysphoria, Fatphobia, Racism, Cultural appropriation, and Misogyny