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.
What People Are Saying
“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