was that she's come undone that you described? because that exact thing happens in that book, and it totally broke my heart. see, i was really loving it and identifying with the main character and struggling through some intense body shit, and then she says that she weighs 200lbs and i'm like "SHIT! i weigh 100 more pounds than that! that's like a whole other small person! what the fuck?!?!?!" so, yeah, i fucking feel that.
While you were posting this, I was posting my comment, which says that I love "She's Come Undone". I admit it's been many years since I read it, and I am sorry if someone finds it a troubling book. I had no problems with it.
The "Jemima J" book, was full of weirdness about size. Lots of unfamiliar data... like, triple chins and rolls upon rolls of fat at (OMG!) 200 pounds.
I never bothered to write the author... because the book was published and there was no stopping the signal... But I do recall being annoyed. Even though there was a super secret "love yourself, kinda" message in there.
At somewhere around 200 pounds myself at the time, I remember feeling like OMG the whole world things of ME like that like i´m this big rolling blob of disgusting blubbery FAAATT!!
I actually internalized it, instead of getting angry or annoyed.
Yeah, I think that's how I accepted the narrative. Its like an anorexic saying "look at this fat" and pointing to some muscle and skin... -- it was her personal truth, even if its a non-reality.
Le sigh. Folks are completely clueless. I just posted my actual weight in my blog and I got the following comment: "I disagree completely, you are overweight and you look over weight. IT'S NOT HEALTHY! you will die sooner than me. Thats the bottom line. It doesn't matter how good you feel or look, the extra fat will clog your arteries and kill you."
It's lazy writing to depend on those numbers to sketch out your character. I always notice when the size and weight are mentioned and it rarely synchs up to real life. The heaviest women in novels usually hover around 200 lbs, and the big men are 250, fer reals.
Dorothy Allison's books and short stories usually portray fat women positively. Hm, now that I think about it, most of the positive and or realistic depictions of fat women that I can think of off the top of my head are written by lesbians (Leslea Newman, Joan Nestle, Becky Birtha, Pat Califia.) I feel like "The Stone Diaries" has a fat main character who is realistic.
I would probably not write the author, but mention it in any online reviews.
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I never bothered to write the author... because the book was published and there was no stopping the signal... But I do recall being annoyed. Even though there was a super secret "love yourself, kinda" message in there.
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At somewhere around 200 pounds myself at the time, I remember feeling like OMG the whole world things of ME like that like i´m this big rolling blob of disgusting blubbery FAAATT!!
I actually internalized it, instead of getting angry or annoyed.
very glad i´ve grown up since then :)
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a horrible horrible book by an non understanding author (and I feel guilty for wasting my money on some of her other books)
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Okay, then!
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"...and that's why you can't tell how healthy a person is by looking at pictures on the Internet."
"YES YOU CAN TOO TELL YOU'RE GONNA DIIIEEEEE!!!!"
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Dorothy Allison's books and short stories usually portray fat women positively. Hm, now that I think about it, most of the positive and or realistic depictions of fat women that I can think of off the top of my head are written by lesbians (Leslea Newman, Joan Nestle, Becky Birtha, Pat Califia.) I feel like "The Stone Diaries" has a fat main character who is realistic.
I would probably not write the author, but mention it in any online reviews.
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