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A review by aebrossbooks
Writing Fat Positivity: An Incomplete Guide by Salt and Sage Books
informative
medium-paced
4.0
My first print book of the year was "Writing Fat Positivity: An Incomplete Guide" by Salt & Sage Books. This is part of a series of 'incomplete guides' (incomplete because the authors admit that there is nuance and difference between people, that no group is a monolith, and that space needs to be made for that) and I will admit that there is a lot of really useful information here.
It's set up in an approachable format. They present the problem, give us the reasoning why it's a problem, then give tips on how to avoid writing these into books. There's important information about the harms done by anti-fat bias (though they use the term 'fatphobia') and how authors can be allies and advocates when writing their fat characters.
This would be a solid writing resource for every author interested in writing good representation for fat characters. It is more of a starting point, though, and I would recommend reading other books by fat activists such as Aubrey Gordon and/or Sonya Renee Taylor, as well as having fat beta readers and sensitivity readers. There's a lot of information here, and the authors did the emotional work to bring us this guide, so it can definitely be a good tool in the arsenal.
This book also has some casual ableism throughout the book, where they mention things like not wanting to be seen as less intelligent or the like. Not the language they use (they employ words like 'stupid'). Luckily, this was rare (2-3 times throughout the book). Of course, they also included reference to the wizarding world written by a bigot, so it's not the best read for individuals hurt by that (like myself, just trying to exist as a trans person). It took a five star book down to a four star.
It's set up in an approachable format. They present the problem, give us the reasoning why it's a problem, then give tips on how to avoid writing these into books. There's important information about the harms done by anti-fat bias (though they use the term 'fatphobia') and how authors can be allies and advocates when writing their fat characters.
This would be a solid writing resource for every author interested in writing good representation for fat characters. It is more of a starting point, though, and I would recommend reading other books by fat activists such as Aubrey Gordon and/or Sonya Renee Taylor, as well as having fat beta readers and sensitivity readers. There's a lot of information here, and the authors did the emotional work to bring us this guide, so it can definitely be a good tool in the arsenal.
This book also has some casual ableism throughout the book, where they mention things like not wanting to be seen as less intelligent or the like. Not the language they use (they employ words like 'stupid'). Luckily, this was rare (2-3 times throughout the book). Of course, they also included reference to the wizarding world written by a bigot, so it's not the best read for individuals hurt by that (like myself, just trying to exist as a trans person). It took a five star book down to a four star.
Content Warnings
Minor: Ableism and Transphobia