FP Staff List: FAT OFF, FAT ON + dismantling fatphobia
In FAT OFF, FAT ON: A BIG BITCH MANIFESTO, cultural critic Clarkisha Kent unpacks the kind of compounded problems you face when you’re a fat, Black, queer woman in a society obsessed with heteronormativity. Kent’s memoir explores her own lived experiences to illuminate how fatphobia intertwines with other oppressions. It stresses the importance of addressing the violence scored upon our minds and our bodies, and how we might begin the difficult—but joyful—work of setting ourselves free.
In celebration of Kent’s incredible debut hitting shelves *today*, FP apprentice Nyrema Baptiste has gathered a fantastic reading list of 9 other books that scream “fuck fatphobia” to add to your TBR after Kent’s. Happy reading!
by Sesali Bowen (Harper Collins)
From the publisher: “Growing up on the south side of Chicago, Sesali Bowen learned early on how to hustle, stay on her toes, and champion other Black women and femmes as she navigated Blackness, queerness, fatness, friendship, poverty, sex work, and self-love.”
by Savala Nolan (Simon and Schuster)
From the publisher: “A powerful and provocative collection of essays that offers poignant reflections on living between society's most charged, politicized, and intractably polar spaces--between black and white, rich and poor, thin and fat.”
by Virgie Tovar (Feminist Press)
From the publisher (hey, that’s us!): “Growing up as a fat girl, Virgie Tovar believed that her body was something to be fixed. But after two decades of dieting and constant guilt, she was over it--and gave herself the freedom to trust her own body again. Tovar is hungry for a world where bodies are valued equally, food is free from moral judgment, and you can jiggle through life with respect. In concise and candid language, she delves into unlearning fatphobia, dismantling sexist notions of fashion, and how to reject diet culture's greatest lie: that fat people need to wait before beginning their best lives.”
by Tressie McMillan Cottom (The New Press)
From the publisher: “In eight highly praised treatises on beauty, media, money, and more, Tressie McMillan Cottom—award-winning professor and acclaimed author of Lower Ed—is unapologetically ‘thick’: deemed ‘thick where I should have been thin, more where I should have been less,’ McMillan Cottom refuses to shy away from blending the personal with the political, from bringing her full self and voice to the fore of her analytical work.”
by Stephaine Yeboah (Hardie Grant London)
From the publisher: “Featuring stories of every day misogynoir and being fetishized, to navigating the cesspit of online dating and experiencing loneliness, Stephanie shares her thoughts on the treatment of black women throughout history, the marginalisation of black, plus-sized women in the media (even within the body-positivity movement) whilst drawing on wisdom from other black fat liberation champions along the way.”
by Kiese Laymon (Simon and Schuster)
From the publisher “From his early experiences of sexual violence, to his suspension from college, to time in New York as a college professor, Laymon charts his complex relationship with his mother, grandmother, anorexia, obesity, sex, writing, and ultimately gambling. Heavy is a “gorgeous, gutting…generous” (The New York Times) memoir that combines personal stories with piercing intellect to reflect both on the strife of American society and on Laymon’s experiences with abuse.”
by Lesley Kinzel (Feminist Press)
From the publisher (us, again!): “From Photoshopped pictures to food-shaming to the latest crop of diet fads, our culture is obsessed with weight—as in, the less of it the better. In this spirited book based on the popular blog of the same name, Lesley Kinzel urges readers to do away with calorie-counting, cutting carbs, and all of the diet “secrets” foisted on us by the media. Instead of conforming to an unrealistic and unnecessary standard, the key to confidence—and happiness—is to learn to love the body you have, no matter what shape you are.”
by Evette Dionne (Harper Collins)
From the publisher: “In this insightful, funny, and whip-smart book, acclaimed writer Evette Dionne explores the minefields fat Black woman are forced to navigate in the course of everyday life. From her early experiences of harassment to adolescent self-discovery in internet chatrooms to diagnosis with heart failure at age twenty-nine, Dionne tracks her relationships with friendship, sex, motherhood, agoraphobia, health, pop culture, and self-image.”
by Sabrina Strings (NYU Press)
From the publisher: “Strings weaves together an eye-opening historical narrative ranging from the Renaissance to the current moment, analyzing important works of art, newspaper and magazine articles, and scientific literature and medical journals--where fat bodies were once praised--showing that fat phobia, as it relates to black women, did not originate with medical findings, but with the Enlightenment era belief that fatness was evidence of ‘savagery’ and racial inferiority.”