A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
“One of the great thinkers of our generation . . . I feel fresher and smarter and happier for sitting down with her.”—Jameela Jamil, iWeigh Podcast
The co-host of the Maintenance Phase podcast and creator of Your Fat Friend equips you with the facts to debunk common anti-fat myths and with tools to take action for fat justice
The pushback that shows up in conversations about fat justice takes exceedingly predicable form. Losing weight is easy—calories in, calories out. Fat people are unhealthy. We’re in the midst of an obesity epidemic. Fat acceptance “glorifies obesity.” The BMI is an objective measure of size and health. Yet, these myths are as readily debunked as they are pervasive.
In “You Just Need to Lose Weight,” Aubrey Gordon equips readers with the facts and figures to reframe myths about fatness in order to dismantle the anti-fat bias ingrained in how we think about and treat fat people. Bringing her dozen years of community organizing and training to bear, Gordon shares the rhetorical approaches she and other organizers employ to not only counter these pernicious myths, but to dismantle the anti-fat bias that so often underpin them.
As conversations about fat acceptance and fat justice continue to grow, “You Just Need to Lose Weight” will be essential to ensure that those conversations are informed, effective, and grounded in both research and history.
About the Series
In the Myths Made in America series, experts debunk pervasive and harmful myths across a wide variety of topics. As misconceptions about groups of marginalized people and misunderstood concepts in the world persist, these deeply researched, frank, and user-friendly books
- identify commonly held myths by name and equip readers with facts and context to better understand why these myths were created in the first place
- serve as a resource for people to resist, whether it be in organizing efforts, advocacy and policy work, or the classroom
- arm readers with the necessary tools to be informed, think critically, and be prepared with facts and language to have effective and meaningful conversations about some of the most important societal issues of our time
The series has exposed myths about Indigenous people, immigration, LGBTQ+ people, prison reform, homelessness, unions, fat people, climate change, gun violence, and more written by critically acclaimed, award-winning, and New York Times best-selling authors.
“Will appeal to anyone interested in discrimination based on body size and other similar forms of systemic oppression.”
—Library Journal, Starred Review
“An excellent tool for those working to end anti-fat bias. Perfect for fat and thin readers alike, ‘You Just Need to Lose Weight’ is smart and informative—and will spur many important conversations.”
—Shelf Awareness, Starred Review
“Gordon interrogates misperceptions about fatness in this helpful handbook for those ‘struggling to interrupt moments of anti-fatness in their daily lives.’ . . . [A] lucid and impassioned guide to combatting negative stereotypes about body size.”
—Publishers Weekly
“[T]his thought-provoking treatise on fatness will give readers of all sizes plenty to think about.”
—Booklist
“It’s challenging to find books, like Gordon’s, that intelligently and empathetically talk about modern wellness culture in a positive, and, well, real way.”
—Allure
“Chatty and insightful, this book is sure to make readers reflect on their own biases.”
—425 Magazine
“[Gordon] brings skillful analysis, acute understanding and a sense of humor to her work.”
—The Seattle Times
“The book offers actionable steps you can take to help push back against weight bias in your own life, particularly if you’re witnessing it as someone with a smaller body.”
—Insider
“Opens the door for nuance, while shutting it on harmful, prevalent myths.”
—Portland Mercury
“Required reading for anyone who’s ever been tempted to give—or has gotten tired of receiving—weight loss advice.”
—The Skimm
“Gordon has personally laid out structured ways to disrupt and combat anti-fatness. Providing tangible steps and methods on how to do the personal and political work of addressing anti-fatness in social, familial, and cultural settings also allows for the hopeful and foundational work to build a new world founded on the grounds of fat justice.”
—Fat Studies Journal
Introduction
How to Use This Book
A List of Terms
PART ONE: “BEING FAT IS A CHOICE’
MYTH 1
“Being fat is a choice. If fat people don’t like how they’re treated, they should just lose weight.”
MYTH 2
“Any fat person can become thin if they try hard enough. It’s just a matter of ‘calories in, calories out.’”
MYTH 3
“Parents are responsible for their child’s weight. Only bad parents let their children get fat.”
MYTH 4
“Thin people should help fat people lose weight.”
MYTH 5
“Weight loss is the result of healthy choices and should be celebrated.”
PART TWO: “BUT WHAT ABOUT YOUR HEALTH?”
MYTH 6
“Obesity is the leading cause of death in the United States.”
MYTH 7
“The BMI is an objective measure of size and health.”
MYTH 8
“Doctors are unbiased judges of fat people’s health. Fat people don’t like going to the doctor’s office because they don’t like hearing the truth.”
MYTH 9
“Fat people are emotionally damaged and cope by ‘eating their feelings.’”
PART THREE: “FACT ACCEPTANCE GLORIFIES OBESITY”
MYTH 10
“Accepting fat people ‘glorifies obesity.’”
MYTH 11
“Body positivity is about feeling better about yourself, as long as you’re happy and healthy.”
MYTH 12
“We’re in the middle of an obesity epidemic.”
MYTH 13
“Fat people don’t experience discrimination.”
MYTH 14
“I don’t like gaining weight, but I don’t treat fat people differently.”
PART FOUR: “FAT PEOPLE SHOULD . . .”
MYTH 15
“Fat people shouldn’t call themselves fat.”
MYTH 16
“People who have never been fat have ‘internalized fatphobia.’”
MYTH 17
“No one is attracted to fat people. Anyone who is has a ‘fat fetish.’”
MYTH 18
“Fat people should pay for a second airplane seat.”
MYTH 19
“Skinny shaming is just as bad as fat shaming.”
MYTH 20
“Anti-fatness is the last socially acceptable form of discrimination.”
Acknowledgments
Notes
- “Aubrey Gordon: On Freedom from Anti-Fatness,” We Can Do Hard Things, podcast interview
- “2024 Book Awards Shortlist,” Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association, book announced as a 2024 Book Award Shortlist title
- “Debunking Common Myths About Being Fat,” Science Friday, interview
- “Aubrey Gordon on New Film Your Fat Friend: ‘My Hope Is to Get People Curious About What Fat Folks Experience,’” People, Q&A with author and director on Your Fat Friend documentary
- “The 15 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023, So Far,” Glamour, included in best nonfiction reading roundup
- “Rethinking fat: ‘My life is worth living and loving now – not 200 pounds from now,’” Irish Independent, feature
- “5 Books Reexamining the Wellness Industry and All Its Toxic Parts,” Allure, listed in reading roundup
- “Aubrey Gordon on Weight Stigma, How We Treat Fat Teens, and Her New Book,” Teen Vogue, Q&A
- “Unpacking 3 Myths About Fat People | SELF Well-Read Book Club,” SELF Magazine, video interview
- “Taking down anti-fat bias with Aubrey Gordon,” Nerdette (WBEZ), interview
- “The lies you’ve heard about fat people,” KERA/Think, interview
- “You Just Need to Lose Weight,” The Skimm (newsletter), write-up
- “Washington Post paperback bestsellers,” Washington Post, #9 on paperback nonfiction list on February 7th
- “‘You Just Need to Lose Weight’ aims to change your thinking about being ‘fat,’” NPR/Book of the Day, author’s All Things Considered interview featured on podcast
- “An Interview with Aubrey Gordon,” The Stranger (Seattle), Q&A
- “Aubrey Gordon,” The Maris Review, podcast interview
- “Aubrey Gordon,” iWeigh, interview
- “What does the book ‘You Just Need to Lose Weight’ get right? Everything,” The Seattle Times, write-up
- “Fat People Usually Have To Buy A Second Plane Seat. That Has To Change,” BuzzFeed News, excerpt
- “Coolidge Wins, Dr. Dre Disputes, and M3gan Takes Over,” New York Magazine, featured in Approval Matrix
- “We are Not Living in a World Where Too Many People are Trying Too Many Things to Defend Fat People,” Burnt Toast, podcast interview
- “The Vibe is Really Gnarly with Aubrey Gordon,” The Stacks, podcast interview
- “Keeping your reading resolution: Books to look out for in 2023,” Here and Now/WBUR, included in reading roundup
- “Aubrey Gordon: ‘Reclaiming the word ‘fat’ is about reclaiming our bodies – starting with the right to name them,” Glamour UK, excerpt
- “‘Glorifying Obesity’ And Other Myths About Fat People,” Maintenance Phase, podcast interview
- “Author Aubrey Gordon wants to change the way you think — and talk — about fat people,” All Things Considered/NPR, interview
- “How ‘Body Positivity’ Got Hijacked by Brands and Influencers,” SELF Magazine, excerpt
- “Author Aubrey Gordon on Myths About Fat People,” All Of It With Alison Stewart/WNYC, interview
- “Your January Reading List,” 425 Magazine, included in January reading list
- “Sixteen things to see, do, read and hear in Toronto this January,” Toronto Life, mentioned
- “This Year, We’re Going to Get Fitness Right. Join Us,” Slate, book mentioned in piece about fitness
- “When fatphobia is disguised as wellness it hurts all of us, says author Aubrey Gordon. Here’s how everyone can combat weight bias,” Insider, book mentioned in piece about anti-fat bias
- “The Myths About Fat People,” The Waves/Slate, podcast interview
- “Talking myths about fat people with Aubrey Gordon,” Professional Book Nerds, podcast interview
- “Debunking wellness myths with ‘You Just Need to Lose Weight’ author Aubrey Gordon,” The Seattle Times, interview
- “Aubrey Gordon Doesn’t Think Your Brain Is Broken,” Bustle, author profile