Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

Belly of the Beast: The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness by Da’Shaun Harrison

7 reviews

monstrouscosmos's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.75

definitely a hard listen, but I'm glad to have done it. while there is some historical rooting I appreciate that it mostly stayed in the realm of contemporary experience (the author's own and those of others). I think it's a necessary read for anyone interested in embodied experiences broadly (but esp along intersections of race, gender, and age). 

I did read the content warnings on Storygraph, but I really would have benefitted from content notes with chapters at the beginning of the book or at the beginning of chapters. I still would have listened, but I'd have been better prepared to do so. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Death, Eating disorder, Ableism, Body shaming, Murder, Racial slurs, Child abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Police brutality, and Racism

Moderate: Transphobia, Colonisation, Classism, and Dysphoria

sup3r_xn0va_maya's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

4.5

TW: Police brutality, murder of fat Black people

Belly of the Beast : The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness is a short book but it's still really powerful. There was a chapter on policing the fat Black body and police brutality that I had to skip for my own mental health, as I have a personal fear of police brutality after suffering from traumatic events at the hands of police. I can't say much about that chapter because I didn't finish it, however , the rest of the book was really good. 

I wish there was a list of trigger warnings somewhere in the book, that was my only issue

I'm giving this a 4.5 out of 5 stars. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Racism, Slavery, Transphobia, Child death, Classism, Fatphobia, and Medical trauma

rachbake's review

challenging informative sad slow-paced

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Racism, Ableism, and Police brutality

wetdirtreads's review

challenging emotional informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

Belly of the Beast is an incredibly concise, yet deeply thorough and nuanced exploration of how anti-fatness as anti-Blackness is constructed & violently enforced. Harrison focuses on how desirability politics, healthism, hyper-sexualisation & in/visibility are deployed under white supremacy (& specifically anti-Blackness) to produce & impose anti-fatness as anti-Blackness. 
 
Immaculately woven through this investigation is an analysis of how anti-fatness as anti-Blackness manifests across diverse experiences of gender, transness, and disability. The result is a refreshing, much-needed & well overdue fill for so many gaps in existing fat literature. 

I really can't overstate how impressive it is for a 109-page book to cover so much ground without sacrificing any complexity or integrity. I’ll admit, when I first started the book, I felt a bit unsure about the in-depth explanation of sociological concepts & key terms. I wondered whether it was useful, or just academic waffle. I quickly found, though, that it was not only useful, but imperative to the book’s accessibility, nuance, & simultaneous huge scope & brevity. 
 
There is no one I wouldn’t recommend this book to. However, I think it’s a particularly important read for white fat folks whose fat activism lacks a racially aware & critical lens. And I don’t just mean awareness of how fatphobia impacts Black folks differently. I mean how fatphobia is a direct product of anti-Blackness that largely impacts people based on their perceived proximity to Blackness, and thus, perceived distance from humanness. 
 
I am so grateful for this book. It is a generous offering that provides an opportunity for fat studies and fat literature to steer in a crucial direction. Belly of the Beast, along with other critical fat Black texts, also provides fertile ground for other localised contexts and experiences to be thoroughly and appropriately engaged. I would love to see the wisdom of this book applied to other Black contexts beyond Turtle Island (or the so-called united states/north america).

(Review initially posted on Instagram)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Racism, Death, Fatphobia, and Gun violence

Moderate: Genocide, Medical trauma, Child abuse, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Ableism, Murder, Slavery, and Transphobia

Minor: Colonisation, Dysphoria, and Religious bigotry

lettuce_read's review

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Police brutality, Racism, Sexual violence, Ableism, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, and Fatphobia

becksusername's review

challenging informative fast-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Ableism, Body shaming, Colonisation, Homophobia, Misogyny, Fatphobia, Medical trauma, Racism, and Police brutality

thefatpaperback's review

informative fast-paced

5.0

This is a necessary read for anyone wanting to learn about anti-fatness, anti-Blackness, body liberation, body sovereignty, and the like. Take your body politics to the next level with this short but powerful read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Racism, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Ableism, Death, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, and Transphobia