Take a photo of a barcode or cover
endya 's review for:
Body Positive: A Guide to Loving Your Body
by Emily Lauren Dick
Thanks to Emily Lauren Dick and Familius/Workman for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
Emily take readers on a journey to understand how society trains girls and women to think negatively about their bodies, and what we can do to counteract that training. This book is a quick read and filled with photos of women of all shapes, sizes, abilities, and colors. Although I appreciate Emily’s efforts, and would recommend this book to my white mid-sized able-bodied cisgendered and mentally healthy friends, but I do not think that this is a book for everyone.
Although women of color were represented in the photographs, body image issues related to skin color and hair texture were not addressed. Similarly, the complex issues involved with disabled bodies were not addressed in the writing, but many women with visible disabilities were included in the photography. Transgender women were not mentioned at all in the book. As I am a white cisgendered and able-bodied individual, I cannot personally speak to how anyone in these marginalized groups would experience this book.
For women recovering from an eating disorder, this book may be triggering. The majority of the book discussed body image in the media and contained quotes from real women that included statements of self-hate, which I found particularly triggering. Although I think Emily was well-intentioned in including such quotes, I did skip many of the quote sections because of the triggering effect. Only one short chapter at the end of the book provided tools to begin a journey towards accepting your body. I was hoping the majority of the book would provide such tools, and I was left really wanting more after having read through triggering commentary. I think this book would only be helpful for a percentage of women whose narratives are centered and who are not in recovery for disordered eating or self-harm.
Emily take readers on a journey to understand how society trains girls and women to think negatively about their bodies, and what we can do to counteract that training. This book is a quick read and filled with photos of women of all shapes, sizes, abilities, and colors. Although I appreciate Emily’s efforts, and would recommend this book to my white mid-sized able-bodied cisgendered and mentally healthy friends, but I do not think that this is a book for everyone.
Although women of color were represented in the photographs, body image issues related to skin color and hair texture were not addressed. Similarly, the complex issues involved with disabled bodies were not addressed in the writing, but many women with visible disabilities were included in the photography. Transgender women were not mentioned at all in the book. As I am a white cisgendered and able-bodied individual, I cannot personally speak to how anyone in these marginalized groups would experience this book.
For women recovering from an eating disorder, this book may be triggering. The majority of the book discussed body image in the media and contained quotes from real women that included statements of self-hate, which I found particularly triggering. Although I think Emily was well-intentioned in including such quotes, I did skip many of the quote sections because of the triggering effect. Only one short chapter at the end of the book provided tools to begin a journey towards accepting your body. I was hoping the majority of the book would provide such tools, and I was left really wanting more after having read through triggering commentary. I think this book would only be helpful for a percentage of women whose narratives are centered and who are not in recovery for disordered eating or self-harm.