If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, SheKnows may receive an affiliate commission. Kate Manne’s new book opens with the statement, “I should have been thrilled,” as she recalls being offered an all-expenses-paid London publicity tour for her first book, Down Girl. However, as an accomplished author, Cornell associate professor of philosophy, and a mother, she “flinched from the prospect” of doing bookstore readings and TV appearances for one reason: she felt too fat to be feminist in public.
In “Unshrinking: How to Face Fatphobia,” Manne shares her experience of traumatic fatphobia throughout her life, from a boy calling her fat in fifth grade, to being voted “most likely to have to pay for sex” in high school, to facing fatphobic microaggressions in academia. This led her to become a chronic dieter who sometimes went days without eating.
When the COVID-19 pandemic forced Manne into lockdown, she felt a sense of relief to not have to subject her body to public scrutiny. She also realized that she didn’t hate her body as much as she hated how vulnerable it made her. Unshrinking is a book that grew out of that realization. It’s a systematic takedown of fatphobia, addressing the myths it convinces us to accept about the health, attractiveness, intellect, and willpower of fat people, and suggests the start of a solution, at least on an individual level: a concept Manne calls body reflexivity.
In a recent interview with SheKnows, Manne spoke about the myths around fatness and how they perpetuate fatphobia, and explained her concept of body reflexivity, emphasizing the idea that “my body isn’t for consumption or comparison or correction. It’s for me.”
Manne defines fatphobia as the unjust downranking of people in larger bodies and debunks the myths that fat people are unhealthy, unattractive, unintelligent, and lazy. She emphasizes that the narrative that fat equals unhealthy is less true than we think it is and challenges the idea that weight is an accurate measure of health.
The book builds up to the concept of body reflexivity, which Manne explains as a more nuanced approach than body positivity, rooted in Black feminism. It encourages individuals to have a complex and compassionate relationship with their bodies, free from the pressure of monolithic positivity.
“Unshrinking: How to Face Fatphobia” is a poignant and timely exploration of the impact of fatphobia and a rallying call for body liberation that challenges harmful societal norms.
