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elly29's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.5
Where to begin with this book. Gordon is a woman who is 5’10” and weighs 342 lbs, and is an activist for fat acceptance. She presents good data, thoughtful (if somewhat flowery) analysis, and heart wrenching personal stories and anecdotal evidence of life as a fat person. She struggles to find clothes that fit and make her feel good, and struggles with how others treat her on account of her size. Some of the anecdotes she describes are truly appalling — a man on a plane tries to switch seats because he doesn’t want to sit next to her; a woman plucks a cantaloupe from her grocery cart telling her, “That has too much sugar for you”; while at the urgent care seeking treatment for an ear ache, she’s told that she ought to diet and exercise to lose weight (things she had been doing her entire life).
Gordon makes a lot of great points about how people in fat bodies should be able to live without the added difficulties of strangers treating them a certain way based purely on her size, and assumptions we make about the virtue (or lack thereof) of folks in fat bodies, and that fat does not automatically mean ugly. And, she argues that fat bodies are caused more by genetics than individual action (though yo-yo dieting and restricting now can lead to metabolism issues and weight gain later, she says). She has a lot of great data on how anti-fat bias is on the rise (and analysis on how it seems not-okay for people to be racist, but okay for people to be fat-phobic, as if they’re displacing their fears about race and class on fat people [who are assumed to be less virtuous and lower-class than thin people]), and the deleterious effects of fat shaming, and how fat people are just as susceptible as thin people if not more so to eating disorders (fat people can and do get anorexia!)
And yet, while she champions the freedom of individuals to live in their bodies, without the fears and harms of harassment and bullying — which they ought to be able to do — I do wonder about some of her claims. She says that fat people can be healthy: this I agree with. She doesn’t say as much that fat people can also be unhealthy (which is what most people think — and why do most people think that? Stereotypes that are based in some degree of reality, media representation, bias in medical training — she does examine bias in medical training, and says that medical students become more anti-fat biased as they go through med school on account of instructors’ influences). I’ve heard elsewhere that lots of folks who have medical issues have obesity as a co-morbidity; is that because the medical issue is caused by the obesity? Or, is the medical issue initially dismissed because of the patient’s obesity, and the patient was told to “lose weight” and their concerns weren’t taken seriously until it was too late? It is a tricky and hairy issue, indeed.
The parts that resonated with me most were about the struggle of the individual, and how we ought not to read the fat body as a failure of individual willpower but more as the result of relentless systemic forces. She stops short of talking in-depth about systems that make high-calorie/low-nutrient food not just available but nigh ubiquitous. What about the levels of preservatives, sugars, and other items (like microplastic) in our food? How do those items interact with endocrine systems? What about the fact that even our fruit and vegetables have been bred to be sweeter and larger (but not necessarily more nutritious) over the last 40-60 years (see Michael Pollan’s “In Defense of Food”).
Major takeaway from this book is that 1) diets don’t work so I should eat what I like (but moderately), and move how I like (moderately), and not worry about the scale, and 2) always be as kind as I can with my words and don’t use qualifiers when giving a compliment.
kels_meister's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
4.5
dingawilli's review against another edition
3.0
How many times does she say ubiquitous in this book?
kgsavella's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
5.0
Rigorously researched and beautifully written, this book is truly a gift to the world. Gordon is sharp and insightful in her presentation of data and phenomena but never loses her generosity, tenderness, and nuance as she speaks on the various ways that fat people are marginalized in this world. I also deeply appreciated how she provided a vision for the future and practical ways to get there, for fat and thin readers alike. Gordon is so candid about her experiences, but it never feels like trauma porn—she is committed to humanizing herself and other fat people and that comes through in her writing. Highly, highly recommend for anyone looking to understand how and why anti fatness exists and how to resist/dismantle it individually and societally.
abigailshupe's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
5.0