Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Fat by Aubrey Gordon

53 reviews

rachel_hoey's review

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

I feel like the world would be a better place if everyone read this book and were open to its messages

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Content Warnings

Minor: Bullying, Body shaming, and Fatphobia

toffishay's review

challenging emotional informative fast-paced

4.0

A really vulnerable and informative memoir/non-fiction exploration of anti-fat bias in modern Western society, all the legal, social, emotional, interpersonal, and intrapersonal challenges of an obsession with thinness, and what can be done to change the pervasiveness of this issue. This is a quick read and provides awesome resources to learn more. The language and style of prose is also quite lyrical and beautiful, but gets a little repetitive in places with the same phrasing used throughout. Overall, an awesome read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia

Moderate: Racism, Violence, Sexism, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Self harm, Transphobia, Medical content, Bullying, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Toxic relationship, and Body shaming

buttermellow's review

challenging dark informative reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia and Body shaming

Moderate: Bullying

jeremy_bearimy's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Medical content, Fatphobia, Medical trauma, Bullying, and Body shaming

Moderate: Eating disorder

karcitis's review

dark emotional hopeful informative sad medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, and Bullying

Moderate: Sexual violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Medical content, Violence, Rape, Racism, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Ableism

Minor: Transphobia, Classism, Chronic illness, Cancer, Abortion, Pregnancy, Biphobia, Terminal illness, Lesbophobia, and Homophobia

bi_n_large's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Medical content, Fatphobia, Bullying, Classism, Medical trauma, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Transphobia, and Violence

bcastaneda's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Fatphobia, Eating disorder, Body shaming, Bullying, and Gaslighting

jcstokes95's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

 A book like this does not exist yet, and I think in 50 years, when we have finally begun to truly confront the reality of anti-fat bias, this will be the classic we look to. When I heard the anonymous, radical writer of Your Fat Friend on Medium had revealed her identity and published a book, I pre-ordered it immediately. I salivated waiting for it to arrive, and when I got it, I kept it on my shelf for two years. Because I realized it would be one of the most triggering reading experiences of my life (correct). This book though, it’s so necessary and so radical, I just want to tell everyone to read it. But I’m nervous to even review it for all the reasons it says I will be.

Gordon’s experiences throughout this book constantly reflected my own life experiences. This was nauseating because it meant remember all the screaming out of cars at me, all my anxious feelings toward dating, experiences that led me there, all the coworker questions about food, every garbage medical experience and denial of care. I had to think about all the ways I have learned to protect myself because Gordon’s own stories were reflecting that back to me. Then I thought, there is no way any thin person it going to ever get any understanding of these stories, because fat people are too afraid to tell them. We are disbelieved on any claim we make. Gordon gets to the heart of this issue as well.

Honestly, she’s slamming fact after fact down about how the abuse, intolerance and injustice serves to worsen fat people’s health outcomes. She’s telling you what any person on the tough side of the fucked BMI scale will tell you. There is very little about your body’s composition that you can control. If we could control it, wouldn’t we change it to avoid the harassment? Or do we really believe that over 30 percent of Americans are really into being negged by strangers?

The message here is inherent dignity. Every person, no matter their health, weight, attractiveness, ability level has inherent dignity. This is what we all need to hear. Gordon’s digging into what I have always found most fascinating about discriminators toward any group. The way the illusion of choice emboldens people to believe they have a say in other’s life and rights. (Choice was the core argument against gay marriage and continues to be the main argument against trans rights). It has always been bullshit.

I could pretty much talk about all my thoughts on this book for days. But I won’t. Because honestly, one of aforementioned self-protection practices I’ve learned is not sharing my every thought on fatness on the internet. So, where I will end it, every person should try to read this book. It is going to make you uncomfortable; you will be squirming in your chair the whole time. But maybe you will be able to begin confronting the ways you make life difficult for others without even knowing it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Bullying, Sexual harassment, and Body shaming

Moderate: Rape and Medical trauma

corvidaeus's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Medical trauma, Fatphobia, Body shaming, and Bullying

Moderate: Medical content, Chronic illness, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, and Transphobia

ladyflash's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative sad

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Bullying, Eating disorder, Body shaming, Sexual harassment, Medical trauma, and Gaslighting