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emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
I really enjoyed and resonated with this book and I will definitely be purchasing it at some point to read again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia
Moderate: Racism, Transphobia, Antisemitism
challenging
informative
reflective
fast-paced
I liked this but I felt like I was already familiar with the content! However, I rarely hear explicit arguments about what is or isn’t moral, and enjoyed the breakdown of her points! I also appreciated how present the author was in her argument. (Evidenced by a her clear positionally and we/our language) A bit dissatisfied with the conclusion.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Fatphobia
I think it reading descriptions of disordered eating is upsetting to you you should avoid some sections of this book.
challenging
emotional
informative
slow-paced
Books like this are always hard to rate and review, particularly if you are a reader that weights a lot towards their enjoyment of a read. The subject matter was heavy, and deals with a lot of damning and heartbreaking statistics around how we as a western culture view and treat fat bodies.
As a plus sized mom to a baby girl it really hammered home just how important it is how I talk about my body and how I fuel and dress it. Genetics being what they are, she will likely continue from being an adorably chunky toddler into a chubby kid, tween and teen, and its so important to me that she gets to view her body in a way I never did. As a joy and pleasure to live in and explore the world in.
It sparked great conversation with my husband about how we view things, and the inherent racism of fatphobia, and even limiting family access to our daughter based on how they speak about others and their bodies.
As a plus sized mom to a baby girl it really hammered home just how important it is how I talk about my body and how I fuel and dress it. Genetics being what they are, she will likely continue from being an adorably chunky toddler into a chubby kid, tween and teen, and its so important to me that she gets to view her body in a way I never did. As a joy and pleasure to live in and explore the world in.
It sparked great conversation with my husband about how we view things, and the inherent racism of fatphobia, and even limiting family access to our daughter based on how they speak about others and their bodies.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Self harm, Sexism, Classism
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Stalking, Sexual harassment
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide
informative
This author takes multiple perspectives - philosophy, art, science, personal experience - to take on fatphobia and why fatness shouldn’t be as denigrated as it is in our society. I especially appreciated her perspective as a “small fat” person - someone who could get within a societally-acceptable weight range with a rigorous diet. It turns out all the effort wasn’t “good enough” in the long term and led to a lot of misery instead.
I especially recommend this book for women/femme people and parents/mentors of girls. We have a lot of anti-fat propaganda to fight against, but the battle will be worth it.
I especially recommend this book for women/femme people and parents/mentors of girls. We have a lot of anti-fat propaganda to fight against, but the battle will be worth it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder
Moderate: Fatphobia
informative
reflective
medium-paced
“This is how misogyny works: take a hierarchy, any hierarchy, and use it to derogate a girl or woman. We value intelligence: so call her stupid, insane, clueless. We value rationality: so call her crazy and hysterical. We value maturity: so call her childish and irresponsible. We value morality: so call her a bad person. We value thinness: so call her fat and, implicitly or explicitly, ugly. We value sexual attractiveness: so make her out to be the kind of person whom no one could ever want,” page 102.
Listened as an audiobook through Libro.fm AND annotated with my physical copy (yes, I buy too many books 🫣) Carmen Maria Machado said it the best with her blurb for the book, Unshrinking is a vital addition to the fat canon.
Listened as an audiobook through Libro.fm AND annotated with my physical copy (yes, I buy too many books 🫣) Carmen Maria Machado said it the best with her blurb for the book, Unshrinking is a vital addition to the fat canon.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Fatphobia
Moderate: Bullying, Sexism
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, Gaslighting
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Hate crime, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic
challenging
informative
fast-paced
True, accurate, and deeply depressing. Feels validating to have the problem identified, but defeating that there really is no cure for it. Fat phobia will persist and it is unnerving to read about how insidious it is.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Fatphobia
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Fatphobia
Moderate: Bullying, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Racism, Classism
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Antisemitism
informative
reflective
medium-paced
[Book Riot Read Harder 2025 Challenge - Prompt 12 - Read a staff pick from an indie bookstore]
I am honestly thrilled to see a book on this subject get enough traction to be nominated for the National Book Award. In my opinion, fatphobia feels like the last socially acceptable tool of discrimination, still popular even among leftist circles. Kate Manne’s well-researched piece looks at is from all angles, including, notably, as a proxy for all other tools of oppression many try not to be publicly accused of, namely racism, classism and ableism. I look at the prevalence of fatphobia as proof as the necessity for intersectionality; it cannot be pull out until we face its roots. I appreciate that Manne’s approach is similar.
I am honestly thrilled to see a book on this subject get enough traction to be nominated for the National Book Award. In my opinion, fatphobia feels like the last socially acceptable tool of discrimination, still popular even among leftist circles. Kate Manne’s well-researched piece looks at is from all angles, including, notably, as a proxy for all other tools of oppression many try not to be publicly accused of, namely racism, classism and ableism. I look at the prevalence of fatphobia as proof as the necessity for intersectionality; it cannot be pull out until we face its roots. I appreciate that Manne’s approach is similar.
This book cites so many trailblazers in the fat liberation space, Aubrey Gordon, Viginia Sole Smith, and Sabrina Strings. I think, particularly the first half of this book brings together so much of their writing with historical research and personal snippets of memoir in a way that is quite effective. I think this is the most accessible text I’ve read about the subject and most nuanced. It’s surprising….actually, not surprising, disheartening, to read reviews that accuse Manne of bias in her selection of evidence, when these studies have been widely discussed and some she presents have been endorsed by the CDC and other health authorities. I think these reactions come from a panic and moralizing of the fat body which people have a hard time releasing. Furthermore, so many of these responses seem to germinate from some level of ableism. Having read so many books on this subject, I would actually go as far to say that Manne shows the most virtues of her opposition. It feels exceedingly balanced to me, as she discusses diminishing returns in Flegal’s study and presents it’s opposition.
The second half of the book felt full of newer conversations to me, mainly because it is a philosophical angle on a topic I care about. Reading anything “philosophical” makes me think that all the thinking I do is by accident. It’s not my field. That said, it is interesting to see all the specific examples of fatphobia in any field. I was also interested in the discussion around whether we owe one another health, I feel I would go even farther than the author that we owe each other very little since our bodies are our own. But, I will say, there is something in some of this argument that felt like it could have been sharper, particularly because I think what she is trying to say is so important, maybe even the crux of the book. That it’s not just “mean” to judge fat people and pressure them into dieting, but that it is unethical because there is really no choice, and even if there was choice, it would be beyond individuals to police. This is something I think about often around weight bias and ableism, we tend to more easily accept what is a societal aberration when it can be cast as without choice…even if we should accept it regardless of this fact. It calls to mind the discourse around gay marriage in the early 2000s and trans folks now. People deserve respect and inclusion regardless of whether they are “born this way” or not. Whether you understand them or disagree with them. People deserve respect because they are humans. And that is what I think is at the center of this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia