Second book post 1

"Does This Book Make Me Look Fat" is a book edited by Marissa Walsh about 14 people who have endured life changing moments involving body image and self-esteem. Their essays and stories are compiled into this book.

Marissa Walsh discussed in the introduction to the book her feelings about body image. One quote that really stuck out was "It annoys me that I'm not thinking about more important stuff" (1). She is not proud of how many times she thinks about her body, or asks, "Does this make me look fat?" (1). She thinks that it takes a lot of energy to think about your body that constantly, and that it is a waste of time. She wanted people to be able to read this book and instead of asking "Does this make me look fat?", people will soon be asking "Who cares?" (2). I am excited to read the rest because it is so relevant especially being a teenage girl in America where everything is advertised through thin people and thin expectations.

The next chapter called "Circumferentially Challenged" by Daniel Pinkwater is about a man who is content with being his overweight size. He acknowledges that people in a community never say the actual word "fat". They always say "heavy, large, full figured or pleasingly plump," (3). I think this is because fat is such a sensitive word and this could now be seen as one of the worst things to say to someone. Despite all of the misconceptions about being fat, Daniel says that his experiences have been mostly good. One of the examples he used that surprised me was that other men dismiss him as nonthreatening because of his size, and therefore he gets along with them. This also helps with women because they love him due to his lack of the unpleasant male traits. i think it is interesting to rememeber that people who are overweight do get treated differently than someone who is not.


"Mirror, Mirror" by Megan McCafferty was my least favorite chapter in the chunk of chapters I read for today. It was all about this group of blond friends who were trying clothes on, and they were complaining about how fat they were (which they weren't) and one of them was awkwardly trying to warn the others about the terrors of eating disorders. The only part I liked about this was a line that say "The more she worries about her appearance, the less attractive she seems to others," (9). I never thought about this before but it's a good thing to remember. When someone seems so invested in themselves, others will see this as something negative, no matter what they look like on the outside.

The last chapter in this first grouping was called "Alterations" by Eireann Corrigan. She had a history of dealing with anorexia and relapsing years after she had been through lots of therapy and group sessions. She talked about her concerns of finding a wedding dress and what it was like buying one and then fitting into it a year after she bought it. I like hearing about her perspective because it was not a fake testimonial for brides, it was a true, honest, opinion on wedding dress shopping and feeling confident in your own body and how that will translate into feeling confident in your dress.