By Lexie Kite, PhD & Lindsay Kite, PhD
HarperCollins, 2020. 346 pages. Nonfiction
"Your body is an instrument, not an ornament." WOW. This nonfiction masterpiece on the way we feel about our bodies, versus the way our bodies look, is one of the most powerful I've read as of late. The authors are identical twin doctors "whose physical attributes have been scrutinized by others and each other all their lives." Shifting our thinking is difficult, because we've been conditioned our entire lives to view bodies, specifically female bodies, as needing to be pleasing to look at. It's a lesson on self-liberation that I didn't know I needed, and now I can't stop telling other people about this book! "When you know that you are more than a body," they write, "you will find that your sense of self, empowerment, and life possibilities are expanding. You will find out that the path to fulfillment and achieving your personal potential is bigger and better than simply forcing your body to fit a perfect mold." I came away from listening to this audiobook with even more passion for taking care of my body because of all that it can do for me, not for the way it looks.
If you like More Than A Body, you might also like:
By Lauren Fleshman
Penguin Press: 2023. 274 pages. Nonfiction
Penguin Press: 2023. 274 pages. Nonfiction
One of the most decorated collegiate athletes of all time and a national champion as a pro, Lauren Fleshman has grown up in the world of running. But every step of the way, she has seen how our sports systems--originally designed for men and boys--fail women and girls. Girls drop out of sports at alarming rates once they hit puberty, and female collegiate athletes routinely fall victim to injury, eating disorders, or mental health struggles as they try to force their way past a natural dip in performance for women of their age. Fleshman gives voice to the often-silent experience of the female athlete and argues that the time has come to rebuild competitive sports with women at their center.
What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Fat
By Aubrey Gordon
Beacon Press: 2020. 197 pages. Nonfiction
By Aubrey Gordon
Beacon Press: 2020. 197 pages. Nonfiction
By sharing her experiences as well as those of others-from smaller fat to very fat people-she concludes that to be fat in our society is to be seen as an undeniable failure, unlovable, unforgivable, and morally condemnable. Fatness is an open invitation for others to express disgust, fear, and insidious concern. To be fat is to be denied humanity and empathy. Advancing fat justice and changing prejudicial structures and attitudes will require work from all people. This book is a crucial tool to create a tectonic shift in the way we see, talk about, and treat our bodies, fat and thin alike.
By Chrissy King
Tiny Reparations Books: 2023. 303 pages. Nonfiction
This book is about finding actual freedom in our bodies by discovering strength and aspects of fitness, movement, and eating that work for YOU. It's about realizing that the goal is not to look at our bodies and love everything we see; it's to understand that at our essence we are so much more than our bodies. But it's also about recognizing the harsh realities that prohibit people in marginalized bodies from being able to do so. Society constantly bombards those who fall outside Eurocentric standards of beauty (think Black, fat, trans, etc.) with the message that they are less attractive, and part of the journey toward body liberation is examining your own privilege, acknowledging the harm you may be causing others, and mourning your old ideas about what a body "should" look like. Recognizing that none of us are free until all of us are, Chrissy King shares the wisdom, the tools, and the inspiration to motivate readers to find body liberation and, even more important, to pass it on.
LKA
Tiny Reparations Books: 2023. 303 pages. Nonfiction
This book is about finding actual freedom in our bodies by discovering strength and aspects of fitness, movement, and eating that work for YOU. It's about realizing that the goal is not to look at our bodies and love everything we see; it's to understand that at our essence we are so much more than our bodies. But it's also about recognizing the harsh realities that prohibit people in marginalized bodies from being able to do so. Society constantly bombards those who fall outside Eurocentric standards of beauty (think Black, fat, trans, etc.) with the message that they are less attractive, and part of the journey toward body liberation is examining your own privilege, acknowledging the harm you may be causing others, and mourning your old ideas about what a body "should" look like. Recognizing that none of us are free until all of us are, Chrissy King shares the wisdom, the tools, and the inspiration to motivate readers to find body liberation and, even more important, to pass it on.
LKA
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