“You Just Need to Lose Weight”: And 19 Other Myths About Fat People (Myths Made in America) (Paperback)
Staff Reviews
Aubrey Gordon has done it again with this amazing book about 19 myths (and I am confident there are more) surrounding fat people and how those beliefs are definitely more harmful than good. This book is the book that all the people need to read, but especially the ones who think they are "helping" and just "being honest" with that friend who I am confident has never asked for that help. This is the book you read to know what to do in the situation when you hear a fat person being shamed. It would be ridiculous to tell someone their feet are too big or too little and that they should just try harder to have bigger or smaller feet. Your body is your body. I agree with Gordon in that fatness is the last place people have decided it's okay to shame someone. I cannot wait to recommend this book to customers. There is nothing more maddening than listening to people "teach" each other with wrong information. I am delighted to be able to help change that conversation and this book will be a fantastic avenue for that change.
— BethAN 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.
—Library Journal, Starred Review
“An excellent tool for those working to end anti-fat bias. Perfect for fat and thin readers alike, ‘You Just Need to Lose Weight’ is smart and informative—and will spur many important conversations.”
—Shelf Awareness, Starred Review
“Gordon interrogates misperceptions about fatness in this helpful handbook for those ‘struggling to interrupt moments of anti-fatness in their daily lives.’ . . . [A] lucid and impassioned guide to combatting negative stereotypes about body size.”
—Publishers Weekly
“[T]his thought-provoking treatise on fatness will give readers of all sizes plenty to think about.”
—Booklist
“Chatty and insightful, this book is sure to make readers reflect on their own biases.”
—425 Magazine
“[Gordon] brings skillful analysis, acute understanding and a sense of humor to her work.”
—The Seattle Times
“The book offers actionable steps you can take to help push back against weight bias in your own life, particularly if you’re witnessing it as someone with a smaller body.”
—Insider
“Opens the door for nuance, while shutting it on harmful, prevalent myths.”
—Portland Mercury
“Required reading for anyone who’s ever been tempted to give—or has gotten tired of receiving—weight loss advice.”
—The Skimm