Unshrinking

How to Fight Fatphobia

By Kate Manne | Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

About the book

NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST

'Required reading for everyone who lives in an unruly human body... elegant, fierce, and profound' Roxane Gay

Size discrimination harms everyone. Acclaimed philosopher Kate Manne shows how to combat it.


For as long as she can remember, Kate Manne has wanted to be smaller. She can tell you what she weighed on any significant occasion: her wedding day, the day she became a professor, the day her daughter was born. She's been bullied and belittled for her size, leading to extreme dieting. As a feminist philosopher, she wanted to believe that she was exempt from the cultural gaslighting that compels so many of us to ignore our hunger. But she was not.

Blending intimate stories with trenchant analysis, Manne shows why fatphobia matters, now more than ever. Over the last decades, bias has waned in every category except one: body size. Here she examines how anti-fatness operates – how it leads us to make devastating assumptions about a person's attractiveness, fortitude and intellect, and how it intersects with other systems of oppression. Fatphobia is responsible for wage gaps, medical neglect and poor educational outcomes. It is a straitjacket, restricting our freedom, our movement, our potential. Fatphobia is a social justice issue.

In this urgent call to action, Manne proposes a new politics of ‘body reflexivity’ -- a radical re-evaluation of who our bodies exist in the world for: ourselves and no one else. When it comes to fatphobia, the solution is not to love our bodies more. Instead, we must dismantle the forces that control and constrain us, and remake the world to accommodate people of every size.

Editions of Unshrinking

Hardcover
ISBN 9780241629390
Paperback
ISBN 9781802062175
EBook
ISBN 9781802062182
AudioStreaming
ISBN 9780241680155

Read an Excerpt

NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST

'Required reading for everyone who lives in an unruly human body... elegant, fierce, and profound' Roxane Gay

Size discrimination harms everyone. Acclaimed philosopher Kate Manne shows how to combat it.


For as long as she can remember, Kate Manne has wanted to be smaller. She can tell you what she weighed on any significant occasion: her wedding day, the day she became a professor, the day her daughter was born. She's been bullied and belittled for her size, leading to extreme dieting. As a feminist philosopher, she wanted to believe that she was exempt from the cultural gaslighting that compels so many of us to ignore our hunger. But she was not.

Blending intimate stories with trenchant analysis, Manne shows why fatphobia matters, now more than ever. Over the last decades, bias has waned in every category except one: body size. Here she examines how anti-fatness operates – how it leads us to make devastating assumptions about a person's attractiveness, fortitude and intellect, and how it intersects with other systems of oppression. Fatphobia is responsible for wage gaps, medical neglect and poor educational outcomes. It is a straitjacket, restricting our freedom, our movement, our potential. Fatphobia is a social justice issue.

In this urgent call to action, Manne proposes a new politics of ‘body reflexivity’ -- a radical re-evaluation of who our bodies exist in the world for: ourselves and no one else. When it comes to fatphobia, the solution is not to love our bodies more. Instead, we must dismantle the forces that control and constrain us, and remake the world to accommodate people of every size.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Unshrinking about?

NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST

'Required reading for everyone who lives in an unruly human body... elegant, fierce, and profound' Roxane Gay

Size discrimination harms everyone. Acclaimed philosopher Kate Manne shows how to combat it.


For as long as she can remember, Kate Manne has wanted to be smaller. She can tell you what she weighed on any significant occasion: her wedding day, the day she became a professor, the day her daughter was born. She's been bullied and belittled for her size, leading to extreme dieting. As a feminist philosopher, she wanted to believe that she was exempt from the cultural gaslighting that compels so many of us to ignore our hunger. But she was not.

Blending intimate stories with trenchant analysis, Manne shows why fatphobia matters, now more than ever. Over the last decades, bias has waned in every category except one: body size. Here she examines how anti-fatness operates – how it leads us to make devastating assumptions about a person's attractiveness, fortitude and intellect, and how it intersects with other systems of oppression. Fatphobia is responsible for wage gaps, medical neglect and poor educational outcomes. It is a straitjacket, restricting our freedom, our movement, our potential. Fatphobia is a social justice issue.

In this urgent call to action, Manne proposes a new politics of ‘body reflexivity’ -- a radical re-evaluation of who our bodies exist in the world for: ourselves and no one else. When it comes to fatphobia, the solution is not to love our bodies more. Instead, we must dismantle the forces that control and constrain us, and remake the world to accommodate people of every size.

What core themes, tropes, or subjects are explored in Unshrinking?

Philosophy and Religion > Philosophy > Topics in philosophy > Social and political philosophy

Where can I read a sample of Unshrinking?

You can read an official preview of the few pages here https://www.book2look.com/book/9780241629390

Who is/are the Author/s of the book Unshrinking?

Kate Manne

Who is the Publisher of the book Unshrinking?

Penguin Books Ltd

What are the ISBN numbers for the physical and digital editions?

Unshrinking is available as hardcover(ISBN 9780241629390) and paperback(ISBN 9781802062175) and ebook(ISBN 9781802062182) and audiostreaming(ISBN 9780241680155)

Where can I buy Unshrinking online or support local independent bookshops?

You can buy Unshrinking from below

Where can I buy Unshrinking?