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Reviews tagging 'Fatphobia'
The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative by Florence Williams
2 reviews
fromtheyellowchair's review against another edition
informative
reflective
2.75
While I agree with most points made in this book I have a few problems with how they are presented and supported. First, the author continually fails to acknowledge other factors at play in studies or surveys cited. In doing so she ignores major barriers to spending the time in nature that she is advocating for and instead assumes nature is the cause of any positive effects rather than a correlation. She does acknowledge the lack of green spaces in modern cities but stops short of further analysis of factors such as race, income, disability, etc that impact one’s time spent out doors. This reduces many of her points down to “society bad because iphones”
She also destroys her credibility by invoking multiple health myths throughout the book. No, women’s menstrual cycles do not sync up, and definitely not because of pheromones we smell on each other. Cycle syncing has been widely disproven by many studies conducted well before this book was published and there is little to no data to support the idea that humans have pheromones in the first place. Is no topic safe from misinformation about women’s bodies?
The casual fatphobia also sucks.
She also destroys her credibility by invoking multiple health myths throughout the book. No, women’s menstrual cycles do not sync up, and definitely not because of pheromones we smell on each other. Cycle syncing has been widely disproven by many studies conducted well before this book was published and there is little to no data to support the idea that humans have pheromones in the first place. Is no topic safe from misinformation about women’s bodies?
The casual fatphobia also sucks.
Content Warnings
Minor: Fatphobia
jdieperink's review
2.5
2.5
I’m not sure I’ve ever read a book that I agreed so much with and also made me so annoyed.
Caveat - I love DC. It’s my home and it’s clear that the author does not love it and her frustration with it led to this book at least in part.
BUT beyond that this is a book about a systemic problem and outside of a few throwaway lines and the very very end of the book, all of her asides were about personal choices. Just go outside isn’t actually helpful advice.
Additionally I couldn’t get past the lazy and fatphobic shorthand of rising “obesity” rates for health trends.
I did really love the section on Jackson Pollock and again, I do agree with the lost core message about urban planning.
(Also, how do you have a section on how poorer sections of DC have way less access to parks and trees without discussing environmental racism??)
I’m not sure I’ve ever read a book that I agreed so much with and also made me so annoyed.
Caveat - I love DC. It’s my home and it’s clear that the author does not love it and her frustration with it led to this book at least in part.
BUT beyond that this is a book about a systemic problem and outside of a few throwaway lines and the very very end of the book, all of her asides were about personal choices. Just go outside isn’t actually helpful advice.
Additionally I couldn’t get past the lazy and fatphobic shorthand of rising “obesity” rates for health trends.
I did really love the section on Jackson Pollock and again, I do agree with the lost core message about urban planning.
(Also, how do you have a section on how poorer sections of DC have way less access to parks and trees without discussing environmental racism??)
Content Warnings
Minor: Fatphobia
Casual usage of the term obesity as shorthand for unhealthy
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