"You just need to lose weight" : and 19 other myths about fat people / Aubrey Gordon.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780807006474
- ISBN: 0807006475
- Physical Description: xxiii, 205 pages ; 21 cm
- Publisher: Boston, MA : Beacon Press, [2023]
- Copyright: ©2023
Content descriptions
Bibliography, etc. Note: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 177-205). |
Formatted Contents Note: | Pt. 1. "Being fat is a choice" -- "Being fat is a choice. If fat people don't like how they're treated, they should just lose weight." -- "Any fat person can become thin if they try hard enough. It's just a matter of 'calories in, calories out." -- "Parents are responsible for their child's weight. Only bad parents let their children get fat." -- "Thin people should help fat people lose weight." -- "Weight loss is the result of healthy choices and should be celebrated." -- pt. 2. "But what about your health?" -- "Obesity is the leading cause of death in the United States." -- "The BMI is an objective measure of size and health." -- "Doctors are unbiased judges of fat people's health. Fat people don't like going to the doctor's office because they don't like hearing the truth." -- "Fat people are emotionally damaged and cope by 'eating their feelings.'" -- pt. 3. Fat acceptance glorifies obesity -- "Accepting fat people 'glorifies obesity.'" -- "Body positivity is about feeling better about yourself, as long as you're happy and healthy." -- "We're in the middle of an obesity epidemic." -- "Fat people don't experience discrimination." -- "I don't like gaining weight, but I don't treat fat people differently." -- pt. 4. "Fat people should..." -- "Fat people shouldn't call themselves fat." -- "People who have never been fat have 'internalized fatphobia.'" -- "No one is attracted to fat people. Anyone who is has a 'fat fetish.'" -- "Fat people should pay for a second airplane seat." -- "Skinny shaming is just as bad as fat shaming." -- "Anti-fatness is the last socialy acceptable form of discrimination. |
Search for related items by subject
Subject: | Discrimination against overweight persons > United States. Obesity > Social aspects > United States. Overweight persons > United States > Social conditions. United States. |
Available copies
- 6 of 6 copies available at Missouri Evergreen. (Show)
- 1 of 1 copy available at North Kansas City.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 6 total copies.
Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
North Kansas City Public Library | 616.398 GORDON 2023 (Text) | 0001012501856 | Nonfiction | Available | - |
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BookList Review
You Just Need to Lose Weight : And 19 Other Myths about Fat People
Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Gordon's latest (after What We Don't Talk about When We Talk about Fat, 2020) debunks common myths about fat people--losing weight is easy, skinny means healthy, fat people should pay for a second airplane seat--and in doing so, she leads readers on a deep exploration of the many facets of anti-fatness. A fat woman herself, Gordon uses personal experience to frame the book, but this is no memoir. Instead, as she does on her podcast, Maintenance Phase, she grounds her arguments in good data, using scientifically sound studies to make her points. She also reveals the bad science that has led to some of society's most insidious notions about fatness, like the idea that short-term weight loss "works" (studies show it leads to long-term weight gain) or that BMI objectively measures size and health (it is based on pseudoscience and rooted in racism). Throughout, she acknowledges the intersection of anti-Blackness and anti-fatness. Most chapters end with questions for further thought or opportunities for action. Densely written, this thought-provoking treatise on fatness will give readers of all sizes plenty to think about.
Publishers Weekly Review
You Just Need to Lose Weight : And 19 Other Myths about Fat People
Publishers Weekly
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Podcaster Gordon (What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Fat) interrogates misperceptions about fatness in this helpful handbook for those "struggling to interrupt moments of anti-fatness in their daily lives." Among other myths, Gordon debunks the notions that fatness is a choice, that obesity is the leading cause of death in the U.S., that fat acceptance "glorifies obesity," that weight loss "is the result of healthy choices and should be celebrated," and that "fat bodies are not to be seen, discussed, observed, or embraced." Many sections conclude with a short list of questions for reflection, designed to help people of diverse body types recognize and combat anti-fat bias--for example, by not offering unsolicited weight-loss compliments. Gordon also highlights the links between anti-Blackness and anti-fatness and exposes the biases implicit in "body positivity" advertising campaigns by Dove and other corporations. Throughout, Gordon interweaves personal reflections on her own experiences as a self-described "fat lady" with sharp cultural and scientific analysis to make a persuasive case that "our bodies are neither reflections of our character nor comeuppance for bad actions." The result is a lucid and impassioned guide to combatting negative stereotypes about body size. (Jan.)