Table of Contents
Introduction
How to Use This Book
A Glossary
Part One: “Being Fat is a Choice”
Myth 1: “Being fat is a choice. If fat people don’t like how they’re treated, they should just lose weight.”
Myth 2: “Any fat person can become thin if they try hard enough. It’s just a matter of ‘calories in, calories out.’”
Myth 3: “Parents are responsible for their child’s weight. Only bad parents let their children get fat.”
Myth 4: “Thin people should help fat people lose weight.”
Myth 5: “Weight loss is the result of healthy choices and should be celebrated.”
Part Two: “But What About Your Health?”
Myth 6: “Obesity is the leading cause of death in the United States.”
Myth 7: “The BMI is an objective measure of size and health.”
Myth 8: “Doctors are unbiased judges of fat people’s health. Fat people don’t like going to the doctor’s office because they don’t like hearing the truth.”
Myth 9: “Fat people are emotionally damaged, and cope by ‘eating their feelings.’”
Part Three: “Fat Acceptance Glorifies Obesity”
Myth 10: “Accepting fat people ‘glorifies obesity.’”
Myth 11: “Body positivity is about feeling better about yourself, as long as you’re happy and healthy.”
Myth 12: “We’re in the middle of an obesity epidemic.”
Myth 13: “Fat people don’t experience discrimination.”
Myth 14: “I don’t like gaining weight, but I don’t treat fat people differently.”
Part Four: “Fat People Should…”
Myth 15: “Fat people shouldn’t call themselves fat.”
Myth 16: “People who have never been fat have ‘internalized fatphobia.’”
Myth 17: “No one is attracted to fat people. Anyone who is has a ‘fat fetish.’”
Myth 18: “Fat people should pay for a second airplane seat.”
Myth 19: “Skinny shaming is just as bad as fat shaming.”
Myth 20: “Anti-fatness is the last socially acceptable form of discrimination.”