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4.46 AVERAGE
4.46 AVERAGE
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
2.5 stars rounded up. I love Aubrey. I love the Maintenance Phase podcast. The content of this book is very important. But the structure left much to be desired. It felt rambling, disjointed and repetitive. Could have used some editing. If you’re interested in learning more about how we can combat anti-fat bias I’d recommend the podcast over this book. I’m a patron of Maintenance Phase and eagerly wait for every episode.
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Everyone should read this book
First book of 2022. I had been wanting to read this for a while now, since I absolutely love the Maintenance Phase podcast. I was not disappointed. This book was challenging at times; it made me think and rethink and empathize in new ways. If you’re familiar with Aubrey Gordon’s work I think you will know what I mean. If not, jump in. Her commitment to body justice, especially for fat people, clearly interwoven with other social justice issues, is so necessary.
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Educational yet personal, a good starting point to learn more on the many issues brought up by the author. Some examples and thoughts felt like they were unnecessarily repeated however.
It's really, really well written. A wide range of issues are explored and yet, it was tightly written, keeping it very engaging.
It's an eye opener and really flipped my understanding of fatphobia.
It's an eye opener and really flipped my understanding of fatphobia.
The adult son of a lifetime family friend is very very fat. I just learned a few months ago that his grandfather left him money in his will contingent upon weight loss. I was horrified. The people who told me this, one of whom is like me somewhat overweight but not super-obese like Gordon and like the grandson in this story, did not see that it was terrible (the issue was raised in the context of telling me how worried they were about the grandson's weight.) When I said something about how terrible it was they looked shocked and confused. I just said, "do you think he doesn't know he is fat, and now that his grandfather has spoken from the grave he will finally do something about it?" Understanding dawned, but until then no one really questioned it. This is particularly egregious btw because there are six grandchildren and the other five had no conditions placed on their inheritances. He was the one grandchild clearly told he was not worthy of love or tribute, that he was defective, because he was fat. I want to be clear that the grandfather is not an asshole, that he loves his grandchildren very much. Though his actions could scarcely have been crueler they were not intended to be so. The world thinks they have a right to an opinion on fat people's bodies, and they think they know all the answers and that the fat person just does not have the facts. This dynamic leads to outright cruelty, to diminished employment prospects, diminished romantic options (not because everyone finds them physically unappealing, but because there is such social censure for dating a fat person that potential partners who are attracted to the specific fat person will often not move forward), and perhaps most tragically the removal of access to good medical care. This is deadly and it is real. I am grateful to Gordon for being brave enough to raise the issues, for doing the research to make this a book mostly based on fact and not just a rant, and for exploring the places where anti-fatness intersects with feminism, anti-racism, and LGBTQ+ justice. There is a good bit of repetition in the book, it was clearly culled from previous blog posts and articles. One example, there are three references to the opening in Pitch Perfect 2 - which I agree is all kinds of cringeworthy - that hit on exactly the same point. Still, it was engaging and informative and a meaningful reality check for our weight obsessed society.
There is so much good here, but there are two major problems (besides the repetition) that kept this from being a five-star read. First, Gordon chooses to deny science that does not jibe with her narrative. One example, she rails about gender-affirming and other cosmetic surgery being withheld from trans people due to weight. The risk of dying or being severely permanently physically compromised by general anesthesia are greatly increased by obesity. This is not a judgment, there is real science behind this. It is ridiculous to expect doctors to ignore this, and in fact I would argue that ignoring this increased risk when surgery is elective would be a breach of duty (I am no expert of medical ethics, but I think that is right.) It would absolutely open doctors up to legal liability (I am not a med mal lawyer, but I am a lawyer, and I feel pretty confident on this one.) This is but one example of an area where Gordon ignores science to make a point she wants to make. At the same time Gordon raises many issues of science that are not often publicized and should be (the truth that dieting does not work, and that radical weight loss solutions make people fatter is a particularly important one.) The second issue is that Gordon ignores economic realities. She considers it a matter of justice that stores should carry giant sizes. That is absurd. Stores carry what sells, and there are not enough 6X's running around to make manufacturing and stocking those sizes profitable. There are online merchants that sell such sizes because if you have a world full of fat people to draw from, rather than those that live in a single community from which a brick-and-mortar retailer draws then you can make money. The same goes for airline seats. Yes, they are too cramped for all people, and especially so for those of us who are overweight, but in the end that is the economics of airline travel. I agree that the airlines should never have been deregulated, but here we are. Flights are cheaper but more uncomfortable. And given the lack of space it is not surprising that people are displeased to have a 435 lb seatmate. (I believe that is what Gordon says is her current weight.) That is not discrimination, it is not based on a hatred for fat people or a belief that fat people are less worthy on any way than thin people, but rather on actual measurable physical discomfort caused by the seatmate's weight. We always forget that every time we grant someone a right we are generally taking something from someone else. Expecting airlines to absorb the cost of needing an extra seat is not reasonable or economically sound. I have a friend who is roughly the same size as Gordon and he always buys two seats when he flies. It is expensive (admittedly prohibitive for some), but he considers it necessary and fair.
Okay, enough. I recommend this read warts and all, especially to anyone who is not fat but knows fat people (everyone knows fat people.) A great introduction to the subject.
There is so much good here, but there are two major problems (besides the repetition) that kept this from being a five-star read. First, Gordon chooses to deny science that does not jibe with her narrative. One example, she rails about gender-affirming and other cosmetic surgery being withheld from trans people due to weight. The risk of dying or being severely permanently physically compromised by general anesthesia are greatly increased by obesity. This is not a judgment, there is real science behind this. It is ridiculous to expect doctors to ignore this, and in fact I would argue that ignoring this increased risk when surgery is elective would be a breach of duty (I am no expert of medical ethics, but I think that is right.) It would absolutely open doctors up to legal liability (I am not a med mal lawyer, but I am a lawyer, and I feel pretty confident on this one.) This is but one example of an area where Gordon ignores science to make a point she wants to make. At the same time Gordon raises many issues of science that are not often publicized and should be (the truth that dieting does not work, and that radical weight loss solutions make people fatter is a particularly important one.) The second issue is that Gordon ignores economic realities. She considers it a matter of justice that stores should carry giant sizes. That is absurd. Stores carry what sells, and there are not enough 6X's running around to make manufacturing and stocking those sizes profitable. There are online merchants that sell such sizes because if you have a world full of fat people to draw from, rather than those that live in a single community from which a brick-and-mortar retailer draws then you can make money. The same goes for airline seats. Yes, they are too cramped for all people, and especially so for those of us who are overweight, but in the end that is the economics of airline travel. I agree that the airlines should never have been deregulated, but here we are. Flights are cheaper but more uncomfortable. And given the lack of space it is not surprising that people are displeased to have a 435 lb seatmate. (I believe that is what Gordon says is her current weight.) That is not discrimination, it is not based on a hatred for fat people or a belief that fat people are less worthy on any way than thin people, but rather on actual measurable physical discomfort caused by the seatmate's weight. We always forget that every time we grant someone a right we are generally taking something from someone else. Expecting airlines to absorb the cost of needing an extra seat is not reasonable or economically sound. I have a friend who is roughly the same size as Gordon and he always buys two seats when he flies. It is expensive (admittedly prohibitive for some), but he considers it necessary and fair.
Okay, enough. I recommend this read warts and all, especially to anyone who is not fat but knows fat people (everyone knows fat people.) A great introduction to the subject.
challenging
hopeful
informative
medium-paced