Review: What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Fat by Aubrey Gordon
I've followed Aubrey Gordon on the internet for years, first as Your Fat Friend (Yr Fat Friend?), and then adding her wonderful podcast Maintenance Phase to the list of shows I always listen to on drop day. I've been meaning to read this book since it came out, and I finally decided to grab the audiobook and was glued to it. The narrator, Samara Naeymi, does an excellent job but I was disappointed that Gordon didn't narrate her own book.
This book is a really unflinching portrayal of the harm that anti-fat bias has on fat people. It is a methodical and well-reasoned dismantling of the arguments that are often used against fat people. She appeals to the reader's emotions, logic, and desire for justice. I did come into this book already agreeing with Gordon, I've been following her for years, and I had already been exposed to the harms of anti-fat bias by ED recovery spaces on the internet. And I am not an asshole.
The part of this book that I think most not fat people need to read is the repeated addressing of the line of anti-fatness that follows a concern for the health of fat people. Gordon lays out the ways in which this behavior is not at all helpful and, in fact, leads to unhealthy behaviors, lack of medical care, and overall worse physical and mental wellbeing.
Gordon's writing is approachable and easily digestible. She is truly such an engaging lady. Throughout the book, she highlights the ways other marginalizations compound anti-fat bias, addressing race, sexuality, and the intersection of being fat and transgender.
I also appreciated the way she talked about the failings of the body positivity movement and the way body neutrality and fat acceptance don't actually make the social and political room for fat people to truly be included and centered in a fight that impacts them the most.
There is one part of this book where Gordon is talking about someone else's research and mentions the myth of vibrators being a treatment for hysteria, I am almost 100% certain she addresses this inaccuracy on her podcast, but I still wanted to note for anyone who reads the book and reads this review that that is untrue and was made up years later.
I would absolutely recommend this book; I think this is a good introduction to Gordon's work and a really excellent primer on how to actively fight against anti-fat bias.
I gave this book 4 stars.
