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A review by carriepond
Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture by Virginia Sole-Smith
challenging
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
I started following Virginia Sole-Smith's work after having my daughter. Pregnancy and childbirth led me to start reexamining my own relationship with my body and I really want to do better for my daughter so that she doesn't have the same baggage that I do. Sole-Smith's newsletter, Burnt Toast, has been instrumental for me because it is exhaustively researched, smart, and empathetic while still challenging you to think through the myriad ways your own fatphobia influences your views on bodies, diet, exercise, and so much more. When I saw that her newest book would be focused on kids and parenting, I immediately pre-ordered it.
This book is fantastic. It is exhaustively researched but approachable, deftly weaving data and analysis with Sole-Smith's own personal reflections and interviews of kids and their families. Even though she's pulling back the veil on a lot of uncomfortable truths about how ingrained fatphobia is in our culture and how it influences the way we interact with the kids in our lives (and the world in general), Sole-Smith's tone is one of empathy and encouragement. This book covers a lot of ground-- diets, eating disorders, sports, puberty, the intersection of racism and sexism with fatphobia, parental pressures, and social media-- while never feeling overwhelming or inaccessible.
Anyone who interacts with children should read this book, but I also think there is a lot in here for anyone who wants to think through these issues-- everyone, after all, has been a kid. I appreciated this book from the perspective of a parent, but I also found it really helpful in helping me reflect on my own childhood (and adult) experiences. Highly recommend.
This book is fantastic. It is exhaustively researched but approachable, deftly weaving data and analysis with Sole-Smith's own personal reflections and interviews of kids and their families. Even though she's pulling back the veil on a lot of uncomfortable truths about how ingrained fatphobia is in our culture and how it influences the way we interact with the kids in our lives (and the world in general), Sole-Smith's tone is one of empathy and encouragement. This book covers a lot of ground-- diets, eating disorders, sports, puberty, the intersection of racism and sexism with fatphobia, parental pressures, and social media-- while never feeling overwhelming or inaccessible.
Anyone who interacts with children should read this book, but I also think there is a lot in here for anyone who wants to think through these issues-- everyone, after all, has been a kid. I appreciated this book from the perspective of a parent, but I also found it really helpful in helping me reflect on my own childhood (and adult) experiences. Highly recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Eating disorder, and Fatphobia