Dietland was given to me by a friend with the tag "a funny read". Something between a chick-lit and an airport paperback. Which was what I needed at that point in time. I was also intrigued by the subject, being overweight myself. Sorry, scratch that: being FAT myself. One of the first revelations in this book is how fat people perceive themselves: even when we are aware of who / what we are, we tend to shy away from accurately describing our size and retort to "euphemisms". No more....
The first half of the book could have been written about me: how, indeed, I do not want to be noticed, how I would like to be invisible, how I try to become a wallflower... Plum is such a character, and her work at a "Dear Kitty" column is not helping her... We see how she has always struggled with her weight and how she's been involved with a weight loss clinic where she intends to have surgery. She is determined and we can't help but watch her go through all types of emotions towards her goal. All that is fine and well, until we reach the middle of the book...
The second half is as if it's a totally different book: introduction into how women are fat-shamed, abused, how porn industry is dictating how we should look (which is a link I had never made, oh well). I'm reading this when even Barbie has produced "non-thin" versions, where models like Ashley Graham are making headlines (for the right reasons). Yes, there may still be a preference for the "perfect" body measurements, but surely we are referring to the healthy measurements?
Not so in this book. The hate towards women's objectification and f*ckability (the book's term, not mine) is growing immensely and Plum is pulled into an underground "militia" commune and all of a sudden we are lured into a group of action figures / vigilantes on a killing spree. A serious killing spree...
I really did not understand how this came about - it was too much, too soon, with plenty of new characters destroying what was otherwise a really nice story.
Not so in this book. The hate towards women's objectification and f*ckability (the book's term, not mine) is growing immensely and Plum is pulled into an underground "militia" commune and all of a sudden we are lured into a group of action figures / vigilantes on a killing spree. A serious killing spree...
I really did not understand how this came about - it was too much, too soon, with plenty of new characters destroying what was otherwise a really nice story.
Still, it is a book that is thought-provoking about our perception of beauty. In my case, it made me shed some of my covers and step gloriously into the world. Even if I am fat ♥
.
No comments:
Post a Comment