What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Fat

Everyone needs to read this book. I learned quite a lot of new information and terms that will be very helpful. I could relate A LOT to Aubrey and what she has gone through as a fat person. I knew very little about the history of BMI and how doctors use it today and let me just say fuck BMI! Going to the doctor has always been a fear of mine even as a young kid. I remember being A CHILD and the doctor telling me I should keep a notebook and write down all the foods I ate in a day, thankfully I never listened to her because I thought that was way too much work to do. Hearing Aubrey and other fat people's stories about going to the doctors and telling them that something is wrong and being told that the problem is your weight HIT ME HARD! I still have a lot of work to do mentally but this book was a great start.

A lot of this are things I have already heard from listening to Gordon's podcast. However, I enjoyed hearing it again. There is good research and data, not to mention her personal experience, that help to clarify that fat bias is a thing and is not a good thing. Her work has helped me to be more comfortable in my own skin as well as to think differently about ‘what everyone knows' about health and eating.

The way society treats fat people is one of the most outwardly accepted bigotries of present day. This book has some autobiographical pieces with Aubrey Gordon talking about her experience living in the world as a fat woman, but also many hard-hitting pieces of research that expose the medical industry and our own internal biases alike.

Some key takeaways:
- Anti-fat bias goes up during medical school, creating medical providers who perpetuate health risks by overlooking unrelated symptoms
- The most cited studies on health risks of “obesity” are blatantly biased to remove health problems associated with thin people and skew the truth dramatically
- Many health risks associated with being fat are likely health risks of experiencing discrimination
- Diets don't work 95% of the time and weight cycling causes health issues on its own
- Health aside, everyone should just treat people kindly and think about what small ways we're perpetuating anti-fat bias in the things we say and the way we treat others!

This is such a good overview of all the ways being fat in the world can be harmful. Gordon talks about how the world isn't equipped for fat people, how they're characterized on tv, how relationships work (or don't), how even doctors don't take it seriously. (I should be saying we, not they, as I am a small fat - I can find clothes in nearly any store, but I am fat.)

Anti-fat biases hurt us all and working for true body liberation will benefit us all. (Much like how feminism benefits men too.) The last chapter talks about all the ways we can all work towards ending anti-fat bias.

Also, go listen to the podcast Maintenance Phase, hosted by Aubrey Gordon and Michael Hobbes. It's a must listen if you care about true health and wellness, not how they've been co-opted and marketed and skewed. As of this writing the most recent episode is on fat camps (also discussed in the book!) and is heartbreaking in how these literal children are treated.

Part personal reflection and part study and part political, Gordon's book is impassioned, sad, frustrated. I've had experiences, I know people who have, and I've read plenty of articles on how fat people are treated. It is anger-inducing. Despite it all, she is hopeful. I would certainly recommend for anyone dealing with the stress of being fat in this world, and for anyone who has a steady size person of import in their life.

this book was fantastic in so many ways. for starters, i've never read a book that has resonated so much with my own experiences being fat, especially growing up as a fat child. it was really validating to read about another 11 year old who was forced to do weight watchers and experiences related to activities and the body. (a lot of it literally felt like pages from my life! like i was also only cast in theater productions as maids or lunch-ladies too before focusing on music instead!) secondly, every single page was packed full of so much important information and experiences that examine the relationship of embodiment and fatphobia in such nuanced ways. this manifesto is so powerful and crafted in a way that illuminates the atrocities of our anti-fat society and the underlying threads that contribute to it while also presenting impactful policies to strive to live by and advocate for fat people with!

i think everyone should read this book! all-around brilliant and well-done!