Customer Reviews

The Fat Jesus: Christianity and Body Image

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Isherwood is incredibly intelligent and well-educated--and that shows in the book. Both scholarly AND immensely readable, it manages to educate and inspire. This is one of the best books I've read on body image.

The Fat Jesus: Christianity and Body Image A really interesting and enlightening book which lays bare the real story behind body image in our culture. Although the title is a bit shocking the book is honest and not vitriolic as the title may imply. I would recommend it to any woman and mothers and fathers would do well to discuss this with both boys and girls. The sooner and younger the better.I am keeping it around to remind myself what I have lived through all these years, and remind myself not to get caught in the insidious trap of body image.

Bravo to Lisa Isherwood for critiquing the body-negativity within Christianity and the culture! She convincingly argues a strong case for the current ways female bodies are portrayed as insufficient and imperfect by some ever-shifting standard that is always ultimately harmful to women. By rightly critiquing our obsession with women's body size, she has made a case that demands an adjustment to our thinking. It is well-written, and though an academic, she has created an easily accessible work. It should be required reading for all seminarians and church leadership and could easily be used in women's studies departments.