'My diet book collection reminds me that despite our collective certainty about dieting today, we’re likely just as wrong now as we were then. And it reminds me that, fundamentally, my body has never been the problem.'
Instead, older diet books proudly champion the social benefits of thinness. doesn’t just promote prayer as a weight loss strategy—it readily suggests that thinness is a visible mark of piety. tells readers to use “stealth, subterfuge, trick, and treat” because “he alone cannot save himself.” “A woman’s work is never done.” I snort as I read it. As a fat, queer woman, I couldn’t be happier to forgo this “woman’s work.
Now, as then, our shared fixation on controlling our bodies runs much deeper than just looking out for our health. Diets—even “lifestyle changes”—are as much about performing our identities as they are about losing weight. Dieting is, at least in part, about showing others the kind of person we are: health-conscious, yes, but also loved, lovable, successful, pious, enviable. Our bodies become solutions to entirely unrelated problems.
These uncertainties and insecurities—our sexual prowess, our faith, our safety, and who our own children will be—are integral parts of the human experience. And many of these diet books prey on those deep fears, promising a level of control in the face of any flagging self-esteem we may face. Nearly all of the diet books in my collection have a sinister side, a willingness to profiteer off of the deeply human desire for love, connection, and longevity. I spend my days writing about the social realities of being a fat person, and critiquing a culture that insists upon thinness at nearly every cost. It is a strange pairing, me and this collection.. They shed so much light on some of the most insidious, dangerous parts of diet culture. Many champion disordered eating.
When I have a tough time facing down others’ anti-fat bias, unsolicited diet advice, and overt judgments of my body, I pick up a diet book. My diet book collection reminds me that despite our collective certainty about dieting today, we’re likely just as wrong now as we were then. And it reminds me that, fundamentally,
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