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lurieta's review against another edition
4.0
There are some really beautiful and insightful takeaways in this book and a lot about the author's experience I recognized in my own. I especially loved the ending chapters. In general, I wish some of the book was longer, or rather more comprehensive, but this shorter book does go a long way towards challenging our internalized fat phobia and why fat Liberation is tied to all liberation.
evelikesbooks's review against another edition
5.0
I've been a feminist and fat activist for at least ten years, and this book still blew my mind. I feel like reading books about both these topics, or any social justice topic, is a constant struggle -- like we are constantly rolling along in wagon ruts, and we have to work to pull ourselves out of them, but we keep slipping back in and have to be reminded over and over to stay out of the ruts.
Not to say that Virgie Tovar's book isn't unique. It's short but powerful, a feminist analysis of diet culture and fatphobia, the kind of book that tells you what you already knew on some level but didn't know how to put into words.
Not to say that Virgie Tovar's book isn't unique. It's short but powerful, a feminist analysis of diet culture and fatphobia, the kind of book that tells you what you already knew on some level but didn't know how to put into words.
bookishlychar's review against another edition
5.0
“My life wouldn't be easier if I were thin. My life would be easier if this culture wasn't obsessed with oppressing me because I'm fat. The solution to a problem like bigotry is not to do everything in our power to accommodate the bigotry. It is to get rid of the bigotry.”
This was a short read that really packs a punch. It looks at how we shouldn't be expected to fit some mold, or be accommodated by the world, but rather get rid of the need for it. I enjoyed Tovar's exploration of being fat in society and how anti-fat bias and even the body positive movement have hurt fat people.
This was a short read that really packs a punch. It looks at how we shouldn't be expected to fit some mold, or be accommodated by the world, but rather get rid of the need for it. I enjoyed Tovar's exploration of being fat in society and how anti-fat bias and even the body positive movement have hurt fat people.
leighbeevee's review against another edition
5.0
An excellent, quick read that is powerful and succinct. Should be required reading!
dahlreads's review against another edition
5.0
Reading this book was like having a very passionate and informed conversation with a good friend. I highly recommend this book to gain more understanding about how fatness is a feminist issue. Research is combined with engaging personal stories, making it very accessible.
gdonahue's review against another edition
4.0
Great book! I love the readability of a manifesto that is also unapologetically academic in its takedown of diet culture, capitalism, and misogyny and how the three support and promote each other in our society. I am excited for this author’s new book in 2020.
half_book_and_co's review against another edition
4.0
Virgie Tovar is an author, researcher, activist, former Buzzfeed-style writer - and so much more. She regularly gives lectures and organizes workshops on body image and fat discrimination. In 2012, she edited the anthology Hot & Heavy: Fierce Fat Girls on Life, Love and Fashion, which I really enjoyed when I read it five years ago. Now her newest book is out: You Have the Right to Remain Fat: A Manifesto.
In this slim volume, Tovar combines autobiographical writing with wider political analysis, alternating between vignettes from her life, and spotlights on different topics such as the link between diet culture and fat hatred (also outlining what diet culture actually means), the intersections of sexism, racism, classism, and the way we categorize body sizes, and the history and foci of earlier fat activism (in the US). Tovar emphasizes how body policing tries to keep us small - literally and metaphorically. In her last three chapters, which are aptly and poignantly titled "In the Future, I'm Fat", "I Want Freedom", and "You Have the Right to Remain Fat" the "manifesto" part of the book's title shines through the most obvious. She writes: "My life wouldn't be easier if I were thin. My life would be easier if this culture wasn't obsessed with oppressing me because I'm fat. The solution to a problem like bigotry is not to do everything in our power to accommodate the bigotry. It is to get rid of the bigotry. In the dreams I have of my future, I an fat. This simple fact was hard won".
The writing is on point throughout the book and the pages are filled with very quotable paragraphs. I love how Tovar does not shy away from critiquing how fat activism, when absolved from its queer and radical roots (and re-named body positivity), loses much of its clear vision and impact, more concerned with politeness, access to privileges, and in a complex way still catering to straight men. So yes, there is much goodness in this beautiful book and will make a good present for many people in my (and your lives). My only small-ish gripe: It is quite short, which is not in itself a critique, but in this book it shows. I don't say this book needs to be hundreds of pages long, but a few pages more (also adding a few more citations) to some of the chapters would have been wonderful. But all in all, it was an uplifting, angry, and powerful read.
In this slim volume, Tovar combines autobiographical writing with wider political analysis, alternating between vignettes from her life, and spotlights on different topics such as the link between diet culture and fat hatred (also outlining what diet culture actually means), the intersections of sexism, racism, classism, and the way we categorize body sizes, and the history and foci of earlier fat activism (in the US). Tovar emphasizes how body policing tries to keep us small - literally and metaphorically. In her last three chapters, which are aptly and poignantly titled "In the Future, I'm Fat", "I Want Freedom", and "You Have the Right to Remain Fat" the "manifesto" part of the book's title shines through the most obvious. She writes: "My life wouldn't be easier if I were thin. My life would be easier if this culture wasn't obsessed with oppressing me because I'm fat. The solution to a problem like bigotry is not to do everything in our power to accommodate the bigotry. It is to get rid of the bigotry. In the dreams I have of my future, I an fat. This simple fact was hard won".
The writing is on point throughout the book and the pages are filled with very quotable paragraphs. I love how Tovar does not shy away from critiquing how fat activism, when absolved from its queer and radical roots (and re-named body positivity), loses much of its clear vision and impact, more concerned with politeness, access to privileges, and in a complex way still catering to straight men. So yes, there is much goodness in this beautiful book and will make a good present for many people in my (and your lives). My only small-ish gripe: It is quite short, which is not in itself a critique, but in this book it shows. I don't say this book needs to be hundreds of pages long, but a few pages more (also adding a few more citations) to some of the chapters would have been wonderful. But all in all, it was an uplifting, angry, and powerful read.
vaniamelivethh's review against another edition
4.0
odio ser esa persona que dice "lean este libro" perooooo de verdad LEAN ESTE LIBRO!!!
sdowling's review against another edition
4.0
“On the date he asked me, ‘wouldn’t your life be easier, though, if you were thin?’ The answer to this question is simple: no. My life would be easier if this culture wasn’t obsessed with oppressing me because I’m fat. The solution to a problem like bigotry is not to do everything in our power to accommodate the bigotry. It is to get rid of the bigotry.”
Some of the reviews here are…oof. Missed the mark entirely and are really…sort of sickening. Not surprising, but surely disappointing.
Was this the most ground-breaking book I’ve ever read? No. But it made some good points and is a great and accessible place to start when beginning a journey of unpacking systemic fatphobia and the way it intersects with diet culture and social justice in my opinion.
Some of the reviews here are…oof. Missed the mark entirely and are really…sort of sickening. Not surprising, but surely disappointing.
Was this the most ground-breaking book I’ve ever read? No. But it made some good points and is a great and accessible place to start when beginning a journey of unpacking systemic fatphobia and the way it intersects with diet culture and social justice in my opinion.
melchncookies's review against another edition
challenging
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
3.5
Very short read. I learned about the difference between body positive and body activism.