From the creator of Your Fat Friend and co-host of the Maintenance Phase podcast an explosive
indictment of the systemic and cultural bias facing plus-size people. Anti-fatness is
everywhere. In What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat Aubrey Gordon unearths the
cultural attitudes and social systems that have led to people being denied basic needs because
they are fat and calls for social justice movements to be inclusive of plus-sized people’s
experiences. Unlike the recent wave of memoirs and quasi self-help books that encourage readers
to love and accept themselves Gordon pushes the discussion further towards authentic fat
activism which includes ending legal weight discrimination giving equal access to health care
for large people increased access to public spaces and ending anti-fat violence. As she
argues I did not come to body positivity for self-esteem. I came to it for social justice.” By
sharing her experiences as well as those of others—from smaller fat to very fat people—she
concludes that to be fat in our society is to be seen as an undeniable failure unlovable
unforgivable and morally condemnable. Fatness is an open invitation for others to express
disgust fear and insidious concern. To be fat is to be denied humanity and empathy. Studies
show that fat survivors of sexual assault are less likely to be believed and less likely than
their thin counterparts to report various crimes 27% of very fat women and 13% of very fat men
attempt suicide over 50% of doctors describe their fat patients as awkward unattractive ugly
and noncompliant” and in 48 states it’s legal—even routine—to deny employment because of an
applicant’s size. Advancing fat justice and changing prejudicial structures and attitudes will
require work from all people. What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat is a crucial tool
to create a tectonic shift in the way we see talk about and treat our bodies fat and thin
alike.
