Customer Reviews

The Invisible Woman: Confronting Weight Prejudice in America

5 star:		(8)
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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a fabulous book. It stokes the fire inside anyone sensitive to the issue of Weight Bigotry & the Oppression of People who are Fat. It made me angry- not a directionless anger but one that is motivating and powerful. The author paints a shocking picture about where the hatred of fat people has developed. She places side by side quotes by Anti-Semites and members of the Diet & Health Industry so that the awful truth about weight bigotry can be exposed. She looks at the oppression of woman & the treatment of those woman who fought for woman's rights, and compares it to the current treatment of the large woman. Ms Goodman has written a book that should be essential reading to every woman- not just fat woman. In fact its a great 'feminist' work. It is clear & easy to read. The subject matter flows from one chapter to another. 'The Invisible Woman' was a joy to read. It gave me the power to be able to dissect the comments made by those who attempt to keep the fat woman out of mind & out of sight, and then to confront them with the absurdity of their beliefs. Read this book. You won't regret it.

Goodman takes the complex, and much disregarded, subject of weight prejudice, and deconstructs it in a very clearly written analysis. She takes a look at the subtle (and not so subtle) details of culture in the United States that make the lives of large women difficult in multitudinous ways. She places the problem of Size prejudice and places it squarely beside the many other ways that our culture has learned to express hate. I found this book to be well written and clearly thought out. She shares some of her own experience as a large woman and places peoples stories alongside solid research

I'd like to ask that previous reviewer a question: if we all did what he said and lost five pounds, how exactly would that make our opinions more valid? That's actually what this painfully well-written book is all about: the persistent prejudice in our culture specifically aimed at fat women. Any woman who tries to speak out against this, to say that perhaps our body weight isn't a character flaw, that perhaps we should be judged by the "content of our character," is subject to ridicule and scorn. This book is difficult to read because it is so true, and for that reason, it *must* be read.

From the first page of the introduction I felt I was reading about myself. I sat up all night until the sun rose to finish this wondrous book. Large nearly all my existence, I felt vindicated at last. While I still don't like what I see in the mirror I know now that the dislike is culturally generated; it comes from without rather than within. I'm in the process of taking my body back from those who seek to control it and me and I have Goodman's book to thank for this.

This is one of the best books I've read so far that analyzes weight prejudice. Goodman does an excellent job exposing the myths and discourse about weight in the United States. It is also a good read for anyone wishing to learn more about prejudice in general, as she compares the discourse of Anti-Semitism, and German Anti-Semitism especially, to America's discourse on weight from the past several decades. There are also comparisons to other forms of prejudice as well. Anyone doubting the validity of similarities between weight prejudice and Anti-Semitism will be converted after reading this book, and I believe that is largely because Goodman is herself Jewish, and therefore intimately familiar with both forms of prejudice. She also details the common discourse used as excuses for prejudice by what she terms "weight bigots." You'll see what I mean if you read the Amazon review titled "An Observation," as this person's (undoubtedly a man's) comment is just the kind of language she refers to in her book (and I highly doubt he'd even bothered to read the book). I've read many books on culture, world religions, and prejudice, and I would say that Charisse Goodman's book definitely ranks up there with the best of them.

This book was wonderful. I highly recommend it. As for the so called reviewer who titled his review "An Observation", I would like to point out one interesting fact... Every single one of the women he so rudely comments on had the pride to leave their names and information on their reviews and yet you left yours off. Gee I wonder who has more to be ashamed of.

This book was quite a find for me. The author tells it like it is and doesn't hold back. She explains what it's like to be fat and edure the nasty remarks and terrible attitudes toward people who are socially or medically considered overweight. Even though the writing is emotionally charged, the author's research is thorough.

In a simple world prejudice only goes in one direction, there is a clear cut victim and a meanie. As a obese man for nearly 20 years since college, and an M.A. in sociology, the world is not simple, and prejudice bounces off the walls every which way: if you are not careful, yes, you may may add to prejudice, too, even if you are a victim of something, even if your prejudice is not a crime or whether people would think it should be.

About a week ago my diet got a big boost when two women friends from college said a) she hangs a picture of her father in law on the fridge to remind her husband not to look like him and b) more painfully another married woman told me what she thought of the deterrent value of my eating habits in the college dining hall. GRANTED, TRUE FRIENDS WANT ME TO LOSE WEIGHT IT IS A LIFE AND DEATH MATTER NOW, I AM A TYPE II DIABETIC AND EVENTUALLY I COULD BE INSULIN-DEPENDENT.

But my point is I have never had much of a problem making women friends, only a problem making the transition from making a woman friend to girl friend, and especially among Caucasian women. The primary difference between a friend and a girlfriend is some sort of sexual attraction: sexual commitment would be a marriage. It is hardly any better when you are in a Christian singles dating service. I have been a practicing Christian since just before leaving for graduate school, but I am very sad to say that human nature, unfortunately, frequently picks up where the Holy Spirit leaves off, especially in mate selection matters, even though it was entirely the power of the Holy Spirit that amazed me into converting as a college graduate.

I believe I have no choice now but to diet and exercise: it took too long to understand, because WHEREAS EVERYONE KNOWS MEN DISCRIMINATE BY SIZE, IT IS LITTLE KNOWN THAT WOMEN DO, TOO. Perhaps my mother, born 1936, died 2003, simply did not have the socialization to say the kinds of things my married woman friend born in 1972 would say in the company of friends, even in the company of her husband.

ETHNICITY AND SOCIAL CLASS NEED TO BE CONSIDERED, for example, at Thanksgiving, my African-American friends insist that it is primarily Caucasians that worry about weight (on themselves and one another), my host quickly pointed out her boyfriend is larger than I am.

MY COMPLETE SYMPATHY is with W. Charisse Goodman, but she needs to address the rest of the story. She may be happy to know that I spent two years carefully getting to know the intelligence and interests of a woman of comparable size. I broke up with her, but not because I made a five second decision over it.

The best thing I can suggest is lose weight, stick at it, exercise and diet. It will be hard, but it is theoretically possible.

Or you can take your chances trying to find one of us more open-minded, mature people out there, if we aren't in a relationship already. We are widely scattered and considerably outnumbered by the smaller-minded competition. If you can find us alone, good luck.

We do treasure a long list of things other than looks. Looks are kind of like the icing on the cake, but carefully consider this. Intelligent people know that looks are not really important like character. Looks can't substitute for what else doesn't exist. Life is too short to wait for looks if you have found everything else, and risk losing everything else trying to find looks. And one last thing: body size and shape is not the last word on looks. Feminine beauty is a combination of so many things from head to toe, including clothing and accessories which are not even part of the woman, that it is possible to work with anything to make a lot. Looks might get you into bed, but it's not looks that gets you out of bed and through the day.

Or try to teach those pea brains something, if you can. Tip: they have to want to grow up before you can help them.

Note: I am also an adult with Asperger syndrome, which can also complicate relationships, but not from across a room like obesity. I have considered competing theories from writers such as Ron Louis and David Copeland (How to Succeed with Women) which place a far greater emphasis on non-verbal communication and learned behavior. Nevertheless, I believe outward appearance is probably more important than nonverbal behavior or symbolic interactionism. The book also has a leading premise to it, but then again, in my experience, appearances count for a great deal in conjugal relationships.

Nothing new here. Weight discrimination is as rampant as racial, gender, religious, and age discrimination. Here in NYC you'd better be skinny enough to slip under a door to be a waiter/waitress- except for McDonald's that is. As a size 16 I can't tell you how much I hate it, then again I've had eating disorders from overeating to starvation since age 5, and it has effected my health tremendously. Something that the author really doesn't touch on. But as it turns out I have polycystic ovarian syndrome, and more than likely that is probably the root cause of my poor eating habits. Now that I'm a vegetarian (ovo-lacto-pesca) and am struggling to get a hold on my bread addiction (YES there is bread addiction) my health has improved but my weight stays the same (no universal healthcare, no treatment for me). And I suspect that there are millions of women and men in my same predicament that can't get out of it for health reasons. What I'm trying to say is, fat empowerment really isn't a safe thing. Diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol are real threats. Socially and psychologically you might never recover. And I speak as a woman who can't find a date among Caucasian men- WHICH IS MY PREFERENCE. Why? They like skinny girls. Just thought I'd tell the truth- and I don't want any hate mail! I'm trying to get there but it's a long way off and books like this might do more harm than good.

I thought this book was going to be a well written piece with insights, new points of view, and provocative thoughts. What I read was little more than repetitive whining from an idignant baby. I understand that society should be more accomodating, should be more courteous, should be more "fair". However, that is not the way reality is. What this books has create is completely false sense of anger and injustice. regardless of how many fat/overweight/obese inidividuals band together and herald for equality, it's really not going to happen. In a world (America) where food is plentiful and fat people even more so, the presence of thin is going to be desired, the ideal of thin pursued, and the people who get that way (through nature or self restriction) revered. We want what we don't have, and that is the reality. No one ever said life was fair, and even though I didn't write the rules to survival in this world, I do know how to play the game. How do you expect anything in your life to change if YOU don't change?