A review by monkymarzipan
Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia by Sabrina Strings

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

I listened to this as an audiobook and I think that's how I was able to get through it. It is full of data and numbers and years, and if I were to try to read it in paper I'm sure all of the data would have made my eyes glaze over. My only qualm is that the book glossed over the 20th century in the last chapter, and spent 8 other chapters largely in the 16-1800s. While I did enjoy the historical context and it was never dry or repetitive, I have to wonder if we needed to spend quite as much time on the Kelloggs and the Medicis, since I would have really loved to delve a bit deeper into the modern age instead of a sort of overview of how fatphobia shifted suddenly from religion to medicine-driven. Anyway, I really enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone wanting to shift their perspective on body image and health.
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