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A review by chantplant
Unshrinking: How to Face Fatphobia by Kate Manne
challenging
informative
reflective
4.0
It’s been hard for me to gather my thoughts on this book and since reading it at the same time as Aubrey Gordon’s “You Just Need to Lose Weight” it’s also hard to not compare the two. But I will do so anyways.
This book has the subtitle “how to face fatphobia” yet doesn’t really have as many calls-to-action as Gordon’s book, and seems to be more of a focus on the history of fatphobia and how it affects todays world. It’s incredibly well researched and detailed though can sometimes get dry in areas and found it hard to keep focus.
I appreciated the moments in which Manne delved into more personal stories or her life and experience as a fat person. While I do wish there was more of that in this book I knew going in (and during reading) that this was not a memoir and aimed to serve a more
philosophical purpose.
That being said, many moments in this book did make me emotional and angry and guilty and everything in between. I made me look back and process how horribly different I was treated when I was thin vs fat (now). Having it be pointed out so matter-of-factly that people DO treat fat people worse than thin people was like no other feeling I’ve ever felt before. The validation was insanely bittersweet.
My absolute favorite quote has got to be:
“fatness can elicit fear and repel just the right people, whose intolerance for wayward flesh makes them the wrong ones to get close to.”
And at the expense of getting too personal,
It reminded me of every asshole I’ve ever let touch me out of a fervent need to be desired and I think how none of them would ever look twice at me as I am now. And when I stupidly sulk over how no one holds doors for me anymore and how I never receive as many “please”s or “thank you”s or random compliments from strangers or even just passing smiles as I used to, I remember that it is not my job to fit anyone’s aesthetic preferences. And it is not my fault that some people choose to be kinder to others. My body is just that: my body. And I am happier and healthier now than I ever was while thin.
EDIT: LOL also as I contemplate deleting the above statement for fear that I am not currently “fat enough” or was never “thin enough” to have these feelings be legitimate I remember that women are constantly shamed to no end for their size and we all have a right to talk about our own individual experiences. It’s shitty body shaming men that are the problem, not me. @ future me rereading this anxiously: your experiences as a fat chick matter. don’t delete this istg
Ands that’s exactly what makes me like this book so much. It made me look back as well as forward. It was helpful in assisting my ongoing plight of releasing the idea of losing weight again forever.
Despite being flat at times, I very much appreciate the thought processes it made me go through.
So yeah pretty good book 👍🏼
This book has the subtitle “how to face fatphobia” yet doesn’t really have as many calls-to-action as Gordon’s book, and seems to be more of a focus on the history of fatphobia and how it affects todays world. It’s incredibly well researched and detailed though can sometimes get dry in areas and found it hard to keep focus.
I appreciated the moments in which Manne delved into more personal stories or her life and experience as a fat person. While I do wish there was more of that in this book I knew going in (and during reading) that this was not a memoir and aimed to serve a more
philosophical purpose.
That being said, many moments in this book did make me emotional and angry and guilty and everything in between. I made me look back and process how horribly different I was treated when I was thin vs fat (now). Having it be pointed out so matter-of-factly that people DO treat fat people worse than thin people was like no other feeling I’ve ever felt before. The validation was insanely bittersweet.
My absolute favorite quote has got to be:
“fatness can elicit fear and repel just the right people, whose intolerance for wayward flesh makes them the wrong ones to get close to.”
And at the expense of getting too personal,
It reminded me of every asshole I’ve ever let touch me out of a fervent need to be desired and I think how none of them would ever look twice at me as I am now. And when I stupidly sulk over how no one holds doors for me anymore and how I never receive as many “please”s or “thank you”s or random compliments from strangers or even just passing smiles as I used to, I remember that it is not my job to fit anyone’s aesthetic preferences. And it is not my fault that some people choose to be kinder to others. My body is just that: my body. And I am happier and healthier now than I ever was while thin.
EDIT: LOL also as I contemplate deleting the above statement for fear that I am not currently “fat enough” or was never “thin enough” to have these feelings be legitimate I remember that women are constantly shamed to no end for their size and we all have a right to talk about our own individual experiences. It’s shitty body shaming men that are the problem, not me. @ future me rereading this anxiously: your experiences as a fat chick matter. don’t delete this istg
Ands that’s exactly what makes me like this book so much. It made me look back as well as forward. It was helpful in assisting my ongoing plight of releasing the idea of losing weight again forever.
Despite being flat at times, I very much appreciate the thought processes it made me go through.
So yeah pretty good book 👍🏼
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Racism