I learned a lot reading this book.  The book is well written and the author provides a lot of information.  It is well worth reading.

An informative read about fatphobia, as many things in our world also intertwined with racism  and anti-blackness. Definitely recommend!

I did read parts of this before the book was published, I don't know why those comments were not sent before. From what I remember, the book was good.

Fearing The Black Body is a really interesting historical overview of how fatness has been racialised over several hundred years all the way back to the dutch old masters and the birth of capitalism. It shows how ideas around black fatness in the American social imagination today has been shaped by the forces of slavery, the 'race science' of the European Enlightenment, protestant Christianity, and eugenics-influenced medicine. With insurance and diet companies pushing the idea of the 'obesity epidemic' this book feels like a really important and timely contribution to the understanding of how we got here, and that how we think about bodies can't be assumed to be based on an idea of objective science. My only disappointment with the book was that it didn't look more at the impact of the unequal medical treatment of black people in the 20th/21st century, but perhaps that was just outside the scope of this more historical analysis.

Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia by Sabrina Strings is an in-depth exploration of the female body and how it has been racialized + stigmatized for over 200 years. This book gives several accounts of how the body type and size of black women has been marveled at, studied, examined, and ultimately policed by others. 

As of late, black women of a certain size have been demonized as a strain on our country's medical resources . Fearing the Black Body provides so much research that proves this criticism of black women's bodies is not based on medical findings at all! 

I learned so much while reading this book, with the main lesson being that "fat phobia" is essentially rooted in racism and classism. This book sites so many sources-- medical journals, science journals, and even criticisms of important works of art, to further illustrate how ideals about the female body have shifted over the years. 

And while Fearing the Black Body is chock-full of information, I never felt overwhelmed or bored during my reading.  However, this book is the type of book one needs to read with a critical eye, note-taking materials and highlighters in tow. It's one that the reader definitely wants to take his/her time with. I recommend this read to anyone interested in the policing of female bodies. Such a fascinating read!

This book!!! Wow, if someone wants to know and understand the historical underpinnings of fat-phobia, particularly in relation to bodies of color, this is the book. There is nothing else out there that looks this deeply into the topic or is this well-researched and cited. In fact, I'd posit most books about fatness are really about "body positivity," which is hit or miss in contemporary culture as it continues to be co-opted by those it was never meant to represent. We needed this book and I hope it continues to push this LONG needed conversation to the forefront of society.

This book was excellent and well researched. Recommended by several bloggers and podcasters, I was impressed by its accessibility and its scholarly research together.

Excellent academic look at the ways that racist ideas of what constitutes a beautiful body have been ingrained in the fiber of the wellness industry. This is a much needed addition to the conversation on justice and racism in this country. Health and wellness providers should think long and hard about the ways that implicit bias may be impacting their treatment of bodies that don't align with a stereotyped ideal.
ARC/Netgalley

In this book Sabrina Strings brings to light the uncomfortable history of how black bodies have been demonized with a particular focus on fatphobic rhetoric. According to this book, not only has the "fat black woman" become a symbol of moral failing, but this stereotype has had lasting impacts on the actual experiences of black women. I was especially interested in how fatphobia originated in the enlightenment and found String's argument very convincing. This is an absolutely harrowing read, but one which remains sadly relevant to the present. I would recommend it to anyone looking to advance their own understanding of race theory and the history and legacy of racism.

This book was a thoroughly research account of how fatphobia (or fatmisia) arose from the othering of African bodies. It's so well written and as well as academics would be of interest to anyone who wants to know more about this fascinating subject. Many illustrations also back up Sabrina's thesis.

I received a DIGITAL Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  

From the publisher, as I do not repeat the contents or story of books in reviews, I let them do it as they do it better than I do 😸.

How the female body has been racialized for over two hundred years

There is an obesity epidemic in this country and poor black women are particularly stigmatized as “diseased” and a burden on the public health care system. This is only the most recent incarnation of the fear of fat black women, which Sabrina Strings shows took root more than two hundred years ago.

Strings weaves together an eye-opening historical narrative ranging from the Renaissance to the current moment, analyzing important works of art, newspaper and magazine articles, and scientific literature and medical journals—where fat bodies were once praised—showing that fatphobia, as it relates to black women, did not originate with medical findings, but with the Enlightenment era belief that fatness was evidence of “savagery” and racial inferiority.

The author argues that the contemporary ideal of slenderness is, at its very core, racialized and racist.  Indeed, it was not until the early twentieth century, when racialized attitudes against fatness were already entrenched in the culture, that the medical establishment began its crusade against obesity. 

An important and original work, Fearing the Black Body argues convincingly that fatphobia isn’t about health at all, but rather a means of using the body to validate race, class, and gender prejudice.

This is not a casual read in any way - it is a deep look into the cultural and sociological aspects of being "black and fat" affects women. Think of Reubens and his paintings (white women, of course) - they were accepted and adored (fatness proved you could afford to eat!) but then reviled as time went on. Once they were not slaves or "the help" and walking amongst the rest of the population, they noticed more and then women started to freak out over their size....what if they ended up that size?? #womenaresuchbitches

As a BBW this book hit me to the core - people really do hate me!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They revile me. They fear to end up like me - BBWs are accepted more in the USA than anywhere else- I have gotten VERY RUDE AND GRAPHIC THINGS yelled at me my entire life, yet in NY & NJ last month I kept getting asked for my phone number. My hubby was ticked off, I was flattered!

Miss Strings did her research and the resulting work is not dry or dull ... it is a fascinating read that every skinny and fat woman should read. The health care system aspect is a little confusing to me as I have universal health care but I have been treated badly by nurses and doctors alike for being fat. The costs are staggering, but are they really worse than the costs incurred by diabetes? Smoking? Opioid addiction? (Note: there is a preponderance of high blood pressure in African Americans but that has a historical reason - the slaves who survived coming over on the ships had more salt in their body: 150 years later their descendants have the same high blood pressure problem as a result. <--- yes, every book review has to be a lesson 😂)

This is going to sound weird, possibly semi-racist, but I love shopping in the USA (vs. Canada where I live) as there are AFFORDABLE plus-size clothing in stores there. (Except for Target - every Target I hit in NY and MI had zero things above size  1X!) Why do they have this? They have a higher % (14 in USA vs. 2.5 in Canada) and . Latinos are  16.7% in the USA and 0.4% in Canada - they are another section of the female population that is often above "a sample size 6").  

This is a wonderful book club pick --- it's already on the July ist for two of the eight clubs I run --- I am going to serve it with healthy and NON-healthy foods and see who eats what!)

As always, I try to find a reason to not rate with stars as I love emojis (outside of their incessant use by Millennials on Instagram and Twitter) so let's give it 🍖🍖🍖🍖🍖 for all those men out there who like women "with a little meat on their bones" 	<<<--- I HATE THAT SAYING!!!!!!	
			
NOTE: I still cannot link this review to LinkedIn - there is something wrong with the linking/programming and it will not happen.

This was an interesting book that explained how being fat was first a phobia over 200 years ago.  The author went into great detail as to how black women in particular have been looked down upon due to being overweight.  This was a really interesting book.

Fearing the Black Body by Sabrina Strings is a free NetGalley ebook that I read in early May.

Racial stereotypes held by white people and those with European ancestry toward the appearance o black men & women (i.e. Hottentot Venus, BBWs, savagery, hypersexualization) as well as the changes that take place globally over time in how we view being thin (being desirable and athletic or undesirable and starving) versus large (healthy, durable, and strong or gluttonous, greedy, and unattractive), what is an aesthetically beautiful, proportionate ideal, weight loss as a way to overcome greed and indulgence, and standards and hierarchy of beauty alongside that of health and quality of life. It comes off like a qualitative thesis that references other authors and artists often with purple-highlighted annotations.

Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia by Sabrina Strings was phenomenal. Her explanation on when, who and where the relationships between race, weight and examining centuries of Western artistic values blew me away!  Starting with the renaissance era to current day had me highlighting nearly the entire book. Everything she found was backed with notes a reference, Strings dotted her I’s and crossed her t’s in this gem. I love books that give clarity and understating on things in life we always questioned. Thanks to Netgalley and NYU Press for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is an outstanding examination about fatphobia body size, especially in regard to black women. The author uses primary sources from the history of the United States to draw attention to the ways in which fat women, and fat black women in particular, were and are thought of by white society. Engaging with class, the medical establishment, religion, and education, Strings deftly identifies patterns of thought in America that gave rise to anti-fat stigma and the fear of the fat black woman. I recommend this highly for all women.

A must read especially in our present time. When will we stop seeing the black body as something to be feared but one to be uplifted. This book is one that I will recommend for my book club.

This book is a welcome addition to the growing list of books that showcase racial profiling, consciousness, and societal attitudes about race. It should be included in the conversations on race that must be done.