Customer Reviews

Fat: A Fate Worse Than Death? : Women, Weight, and Appearance (Haworth Innovations in Feminist Studies)

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While I did appreciate the author's honesty and self-explorative approach to this book, I agree with the previous reviewer that this book went on way too long. The author actually presents the same anecdotes in different chapters and struggles with the same questions again and agin throughout the text, with little movement forward. Funny that the last section is entitled "Time to Move On." because she doesn't seem to do that very well. Unlike the previous reviewer, I don't recall anything in the book that indicated that the author's weight is contributing to health problems; in fact, my recollection is that she was able to ameliorate a number of health problems through healthy eating and exercise without any weight loss. My sense was that she was attempting to demonstrate that we talk about weight loss as a health necessity, when it is more often a culturally mandated appearance issue. My favorite line in the whole book was a quote from columnist Ellen Goodman: "Show me a woman who only wants to be thin for her health and I'll show you a man who buys Playboy just to read the interview."

I have read a number of books on the subject of fat oppression, and this is easily one of the most valuable experiences. The author intelligently and deliberately lays out the problem of weight-based oppression, and offers a coherent response. If you are resistant to the notion that it can be okay to be fat, you won't like this book. It challenges those prejudices with no apology. The looks-based oppression of women has been given a supposed validity under the guise of health, but Thorne works to show the absurdity of such claims. It is possible to be fat and happy and healthy, but there is much standing in the way. She doesn't pull her punches, and that is bound to put off some resistant minds. So often we see pundants decry to oppression while refusing to challenge the foundation and justification for the bigotry and prejudice. You won't see that here. Admittedly, the book moves at a somewhat uninspired pace and does not make for a good introduction to the problem of fat prejudices. If it is a topic of interest for you, however, I'm sure you will find this to be an interesting read.

This was the first book on size issues that I found when I began reading books on the subject. Whilst I have read several other works that seemed more relevant to me as a 25yr old fat woman I am glad I read this. I think it is important to see the issue from its many angles. No point of view is less valid than your own- and this is what is most important when approaching this work. If I was an older woman perhaps this would have been more relevant but as a lipstick loving twenty-something fat chick who has come to terms with my size and what it means in the society that I live in this book was socially interesting but not personally relevant. Another quick observation was that it is very bleak in its outlook. This is not the book if you're looking for something uplifting. If you're looking to have a good selection of size issue books on your shelf than buy this. If you're just looking for one book than try Fat!So? by Marilyn Wann.

The book essentially is a convoluted argument to the effect that however one looks, one is ENTITLED to be complimented on his/her(mostly her) appearance. The problem with this approach has been pointed out to the author many, many times but she consistenly rejects such advice. Her health is suffering because of her weight and she consistently denies this, refusing even to discuss it with her doctor. The book is exceedingly tedious to read. One sentence went on for over half a page. I read it through primarily because of the excellent references and statistics that are scatterered throughout the book. If it wasn't for that, I'd have deep six'd it after a few pages. Oh, the Epilogue was good...but hardly worth the 192 pages to get there.