"You Just Need to Lose Weight": And 19 Other Myths About Fat People (Myths Made in America)

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
AN INDIE BESTSELLER

“One of the great thinkers of our generation . . . I feel fresher and smarter and happier for sitting down with her.”—Jameela Jamil, iWeigh Podcast

The co-host of the Maintenance Phase podcast and creator of Your Fat Friend equips you with the facts to debunk common anti-fat myths and with tools to take action for fat justice

The pushback that shows up in conversations about fat justice takes exceedingly predicable form. Losing weight is easy—calories in, calories out. Fat people are unhealthy. We’re in the midst of an obesity epidemic. Fat acceptance “glorifies obesity.” The BMI is an objective measure of size and health. Yet, these myths are as readily debunked as they are pervasive.

In “You Just Need to Lose Weight,” Aubrey Gordon equips readers with the facts and figures to reframe myths about fatness in order to dismantle the anti-fat bias ingrained in how we think about and treat fat people. Bringing her dozen years of community organizing and training to bear, Gordon shares the rhetorical approaches she and other organizers employ to not only counter these pernicious myths, but to dismantle the anti-fat bias that so often underpin them.

As conversations about fat acceptance and fat justice continue to grow, “You Just Need to Lose Weight” will be essential to ensure that those conversations are informed, effective, and grounded in both research and history.

 
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# of Pages: 224

Book Binding: Paperback

Year of Publication: 2023

Publisher: Beacon Press

Language: en

ISBN: 9780807006474

Aubrey Gordon is a writer, speaker, and activist who focuses on the intersection of body politics, health, and culture. She holds a Master's degree in Communication and Culture from York University, where she studied the representation of fat bodies in media and popular culture. Her work has been featured in numerous publications, including The New York Times, Self, and HuffPost, and she has been a guest on various podcasts and radio shows. As a fat woman herself, Gordon brings a personal perspective to her writing and advocacy, challenging societal norms and promoting body positivity and acceptance. She currently resides in Seattle, Washington.