Reviews tagging 'Fatphobia'

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

30 reviews

bedroompunk's review

challenging dark informative reflective tense medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Fatphobia

Moderate: Eating disorder

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

nahae's review

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Sexual assault, Racism, and Death

jess_always_reading's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective tense fast-paced

4.75

A great read/listen that makes connections between anti-fatness/fat hatred, anti-Blackness, and transphobia. Harrison uses a blend of scientific and historical data and direct experience (their own and that of other Black Fat trans folks) to illustrate the breadth and depth of oppressions experienced by Black trans Fat folks, with a particular focus on the masc community. I highly recommend this for anyone working on challenging their internal biases!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Fatphobia, and Transphobia

breadbummer's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

Take care with this one; this should be required reading for everyone, but it's incredibly hard-hitting. I'm sure this topic can be, by absolutely ANY means, completely covered in this short read/listen, but Harrison provides a hell of a lot of information on the topic. Their dedication to the topic is also very noticeable in how they write which, as someone who has had to read some of the driest academic texts imaginable, I appreciate tremendously.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Police brutality, Racism, Dysphoria, Murder, Fatphobia, and Hate crime

Moderate: Child abuse, Colonisation, Pedophilia, Slavery, and Transphobia

Minor: Confinement, Eating disorder, and Medical trauma

chlo_po's review

informative reflective fast-paced

4.5

Harrison gets to the core of our World (anti-fatness and anti-blackness) in damning detail and with painful and expansive arguments. They provide incontrovertible evidence  about how and why we must all collectively build a new world without cages and the social constructs that continue to propagate violence. At times I had to pause to make sure I was getting everything, but this made me reflect and challenge myself, and is a must read for anyone with a body. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Fatphobia, and Sexual violence

historicalmaterialgirl's review

challenging dark reflective fast-paced

4.75

If "You Just Need to Lose Weight" by Aubrey Gordon was talking, Belly of the Beast by Da'Shaun Harrison was screaming. This book challenges the assumptions and political possibilities of movements for (reforming) body positivity, desirability, gender and policing. In each one we see its failure to heal individuals and end the systems that hurt in the first place.

I was especially struck by the chapter on desirability, which writes about insecurity as a point of political possibility to turn against the system rather than ourselves. Obviously it's complicated! But it made me feel like I could embrace the parts of myself I feel insecure about by reminding myself these insecurities stem from something outside of myself that I can push back on. 

Essential reading for studying Blackness, fatness, transness and abolition. Highlyyyyyy recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Racism, and Fatphobia

kaynova's review against another edition

informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

Chapter 3 and Chapter 6 ruined me, in the best ways possible. This book has challenged my own beliefs, or at least what EYE thought was my beliefs, into what needs to be done to reform and reshape a system that was never with me in mind and how to navigate these spaces without conforming to those values. I was actually working out when I was reading Chapter 3 and it made me sit down and rethink what is the purpose of exercise when I have always been sought out as black queer fat person who needs tp "lose weight" or "reframe your shape to be more curvy". This book pushes the envelope on current mindsets and narratives that make us believe one thing because it's more acceptable, not remembering or knowing that it is harmful and extremely anti-black and anti-fatness. Fatphobia does align with anti-blackness and transphobia, especially for black fat trans bodies and Da'Shaun L. Harrison does a phenomenal job of informing the readers of this while piecing other great works and articles to back their claims and findings. Because of the multiple name drops they put in the book, my TBR has grown to learn more about black bodies, especially black fat bodies when I, myself, have these same identities yet never accessed these works. I can't wait to learn more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Fatphobia, Transphobia, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Gun violence, 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

eliya's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

fantastic read. informative and not too dense to where it is difficult to process the information. i learned so much. de’schaun harrison writes in a way that is conversational yet obviously so informative. it felt like i was listening to one of my really smart friends talk. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Pedophilia, Gun violence, Genocide, Pandemic/Epidemic, Murder, Medical trauma, Racism, Misogyny, Death, Violence, Slavery, Racial slurs, Adult/minor relationship, Medical content, Fatphobia, Sexism, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Homophobia, and Hate crime