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nerdinthelibrary 's review for:
The (Other) F Word: A Celebration of the Fat & Fierce
by Angie Manfredi
content warnings: fatphobia, diet culture
This is an anthology that I've needed for a very long time. In some ways it's been a great year for fat representation - Ned Leeds has now been in two Spider-Man movies without there being a joke about his weight, Barbie Ferreira is starring as a sexualised fat girl in HBO's critically acclaimed Euphoria, Kristin Chirico got her own show on Facebook Watch - but in a lot of other ways it's been a terrible year for fat people - Thor's fatness being a punchline in Endgame, Insatiable somehow got a second season that premiered this year, Grace Randolph just a couple weeks ago made certain, ahem, comments about Florence Pugh and Rachel Weisz in the Black Widow trailer. So reading this anthology was the exact medicine I needed for all the bullshit I have to deal with on a daily basis, both personally and generally.
The Other F Word is an anthology full of personal essays, poetry, illustrations, letters-to-younger-selves; everything you could imagine finding in an anthology, it's here. And it's all focused on fatness. This is also an anthology made up of an incredibly diverse group of people who all offer incredibly different perspectives.
On a more personal note, after almost every section there's a photograph of the person who wrote it and a bio of their life and accomplishments beneath it, and there was something so incredibly wonderful seeing picture after picture of happy, thriving fat people.
Some of my favourite pieces included: Brighter Than Starlight by Jiji Knight, Fat, And by S. Qiouyi Lu, Write Something Fat by Sarah Hollowell, Fatness & Horror: The Match Made in Not Heaven by Hillary Monahan, For the Love of Ursula's Revenge Body by Julie Murphy, Losing My Religion by Jess Walton, To All the Pizzas I've Loved Before by Laina Spencer, and Baltimore... and Me by Amy Spalding. But believe me when I say I genuinely loved everything included in this anthology.
This is a must-read for everyone. It's funny, it's sad, it's angering, it's inspiring. There are recommendations of films and TV shows to watch, books to read, models and activists to follow, stores to shop at, all with fat people in mind.
I'm not sure how coherent this is, or if it even gets across my immense excitement over something like this existing in my lifetime. But know that I am overjoyed at this books' existence, and I think you should all read it.
“Your body is perfect. Yes, yours. Exactly the way it is, right now in this second.
Don’t ever forget it.”
This is an anthology that I've needed for a very long time. In some ways it's been a great year for fat representation - Ned Leeds has now been in two Spider-Man movies without there being a joke about his weight, Barbie Ferreira is starring as a sexualised fat girl in HBO's critically acclaimed Euphoria, Kristin Chirico got her own show on Facebook Watch - but in a lot of other ways it's been a terrible year for fat people - Thor's fatness being a punchline in Endgame, Insatiable somehow got a second season that premiered this year, Grace Randolph just a couple weeks ago made certain, ahem, comments about Florence Pugh and Rachel Weisz in the Black Widow trailer. So reading this anthology was the exact medicine I needed for all the bullshit I have to deal with on a daily basis, both personally and generally.
The Other F Word is an anthology full of personal essays, poetry, illustrations, letters-to-younger-selves; everything you could imagine finding in an anthology, it's here. And it's all focused on fatness. This is also an anthology made up of an incredibly diverse group of people who all offer incredibly different perspectives.
On a more personal note, after almost every section there's a photograph of the person who wrote it and a bio of their life and accomplishments beneath it, and there was something so incredibly wonderful seeing picture after picture of happy, thriving fat people.
Some of my favourite pieces included: Brighter Than Starlight by Jiji Knight, Fat, And by S. Qiouyi Lu, Write Something Fat by Sarah Hollowell, Fatness & Horror: The Match Made in Not Heaven by Hillary Monahan, For the Love of Ursula's Revenge Body by Julie Murphy, Losing My Religion by Jess Walton, To All the Pizzas I've Loved Before by Laina Spencer, and Baltimore... and Me by Amy Spalding. But believe me when I say I genuinely loved everything included in this anthology.
This is a must-read for everyone. It's funny, it's sad, it's angering, it's inspiring. There are recommendations of films and TV shows to watch, books to read, models and activists to follow, stores to shop at, all with fat people in mind.
I'm not sure how coherent this is, or if it even gets across my immense excitement over something like this existing in my lifetime. But know that I am overjoyed at this books' existence, and I think you should all read it.