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A review by rrickman33
Last Summer at the Golden Hotel by Elyssa Friedland
3.0
Cute, fun, summer read. It dragged a bit in the middle but the ending was worth it. Way too much fat-phobia and fat-shaming for my taste... will post my soap box on my instagram about how we constantly and ad nauseam dissect women's bodies.
As a dietitian I have NO room for this, sorry. There was no body shaming aimed towards the men in this book it seemed pretty pointed. If you want a character with an eating disorder or body dysmorphia, great, let's make it realistic and nuanced.
In two cases, the fat shaming was thrown in randomly and provided nothing else to the storyline and really should have been edited out:
"Besides, Aimee didn't think Fanny needed any more food. At yesterday's gathering, she'd filled a plate with at least a dozen Rugelach. Since she no longer had the ability to exercise, all those calories were going to go straight to her, well, fanny."
- Was this supposed to be cute??? You're fat shaming a grandmother of teenagers- she doesn't need to lose weight that late in life, we focus on enjoyment of life with this age group.
"Lycra was like a sausage casing; it sucked you in, but the fat had to go somewhere. Which meant a muffin top and bulges of back fat, in her case."
- Am I supposed to hate wearing my cute exercise clothes because, yes, they're tight and show my natural fat sources like my hips because I'm a woman and biologically that's where it is??
Stop doing casual fat shaming where it doesn't need to be. Give the character another personality trait.
As a dietitian I have NO room for this, sorry. There was no body shaming aimed towards the men in this book it seemed pretty pointed. If you want a character with an eating disorder or body dysmorphia, great, let's make it realistic and nuanced.
In two cases, the fat shaming was thrown in randomly and provided nothing else to the storyline and really should have been edited out:
"Besides, Aimee didn't think Fanny needed any more food. At yesterday's gathering, she'd filled a plate with at least a dozen Rugelach. Since she no longer had the ability to exercise, all those calories were going to go straight to her, well, fanny."
- Was this supposed to be cute??? You're fat shaming a grandmother of teenagers- she doesn't need to lose weight that late in life, we focus on enjoyment of life with this age group.
"Lycra was like a sausage casing; it sucked you in, but the fat had to go somewhere. Which meant a muffin top and bulges of back fat, in her case."
- Am I supposed to hate wearing my cute exercise clothes because, yes, they're tight and show my natural fat sources like my hips because I'm a woman and biologically that's where it is??
Stop doing casual fat shaming where it doesn't need to be. Give the character another personality trait.