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4.46 AVERAGE
4.46 AVERAGE
A severely fat women provides both research-based evidence and anecdotes about how our culture is biased against fat people.
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
Aubrey Gordon likes data and evidence, and she uses it adroitly to paint a clear picture of the injustices suffered by fat and very fat people in our society. What makes this a good book is the dedication to fact coupled with moving, personal illustrations from her own lived experience. There was a bit of repetition in the writing but her style is easy to read and engaging. As a public health professional, I was most impacted by her descriptions of health care treatment - or lack thereof - for herself and other fat people. But the entire book really pushed me to examine my own and societal prejudices. I also really appreciated her call to action at the end with specific next steps toward a more inclusive vision of our world.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
informative
informative
slow-paced
Not gonna rate this for now (or ever?). It was very informative, but also hard to read. I thought I knew a lot about fatphobia already, but this opened my eyes to a few things I never knew.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia
What this book does well: describes the violence that lands on this particular author, a fat white cis queer non-disabled woman. Gives thin readers a look into the world of anti-fatness that they are often shielded from. This is a great 101 book if you haven't ever considered or acknowledged anti-fatness.
What this book does not do well: systemic analysis that addresses the roots of anti-fatness (racism, ableism, capitalism) beyond lip service. I think this book would have worked better as a memoir.
I feel like the suggestions about how to change the world come from a very naive perspective that doesn't realize how deep the roots of these oppressions go, and how many people have spent lifetimes already trying to change these systems.
After reading this book, I highly recommend reading Da'Shaun Harrison's "The Belly of the Beast" for a clearer view of this landscape that Gordon skims across but doesn't really engage with.
What this book does not do well: systemic analysis that addresses the roots of anti-fatness (racism, ableism, capitalism) beyond lip service. I think this book would have worked better as a memoir.
I feel like the suggestions about how to change the world come from a very naive perspective that doesn't realize how deep the roots of these oppressions go, and how many people have spent lifetimes already trying to change these systems.
After reading this book, I highly recommend reading Da'Shaun Harrison's "The Belly of the Beast" for a clearer view of this landscape that Gordon skims across but doesn't really engage with.
I think this book was a little unfocused and the chapters felt like they didn’t stick to the topic of their titles, which became frustrating and highlighted how repetitive some of the points were. Important info but I found myself skimming the last third because I didn’t feel like any new points were being made. Could’ve maybe been more effective if it were shorter and with a focused edit.
Okay hot take - I’m about 1/3 of the way in and honestly couldn’t really finish the book.
Personally… I agree with the authors discussion on fatphobia and all the biases, implicit or explicit, about it. I wish the book focused more on this and the harms of it. I.e the author discussing how studies show your weight correlated to how likely you are to be hired or fired, seen as lazy, etc.
What really threw me off, however, was the biased writing in which the author tried to basically say anyone trying to make people “healthier” was fat shaming, which isn’t always the case? Michelle Obama’s let’s move campaign seen as fat shaming and not helpful for society feels … extremely one sided.
It is true that society needs to have better standards for body image and size. But it’s not true that the entire obesity epidemic is a hoax and negative for society - there is evidence that obesity is correlated with negative health risks and i wish the book discussed both sides of the coin.
It felt too propaganda for me to continue reading. Maybe another day I’ll pick it back up but it was too irritatingly biased to continue.
Personally… I agree with the authors discussion on fatphobia and all the biases, implicit or explicit, about it. I wish the book focused more on this and the harms of it. I.e the author discussing how studies show your weight correlated to how likely you are to be hired or fired, seen as lazy, etc.
What really threw me off, however, was the biased writing in which the author tried to basically say anyone trying to make people “healthier” was fat shaming, which isn’t always the case? Michelle Obama’s let’s move campaign seen as fat shaming and not helpful for society feels … extremely one sided.
It is true that society needs to have better standards for body image and size. But it’s not true that the entire obesity epidemic is a hoax and negative for society - there is evidence that obesity is correlated with negative health risks and i wish the book discussed both sides of the coin.
It felt too propaganda for me to continue reading. Maybe another day I’ll pick it back up but it was too irritatingly biased to continue.