The Invisible Woman: Confronting Weight Prejudice in America

by W. Charisse Goodman

A member of The National Association for the Advancement of Fat Americans charges American society with discrimination against overweight women, criticizing the media and the weight-loss industry for perpetuating sexist stereotypes. Original. Tour. IP.

Genres: Nonfiction, Feminism, Sociology, Psychology, Gender Studies, Diets, Fat Studies

222 pages, Paperback

First published November 6, 1995

Reviews

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

W Charisse Goodman's "The Invisible Woman" ought to be essential reading for the American feminist (which is hopefully to say that it should be read by men as well). Within, she explores how the glorification of a narrow ideal of beauty is damaging to all women, fat and thin, and has become the means by which women in our society are put in their place. She gives particular attention to the toll weight prejudice puts upon the health of women, both from stress caused by exclusion and active discrimination, and by an indifferent medical establishment that places the health of patients below the pursuit of the ectomorphic ideal.
It is very much a personal document, and so there are moments when Goodman goes off on a unrewarding tangent, and at the end she essays an optimism that I did not find contagious, precisely. But for much of the book she dissects the hypocrisies of our society with insight and keen reasoning.

[Karen Ireland-Phillips · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little late to the party, Ms. Goodman presents a kind of primer of fat activism/liberation. She doesn't bring any great insight except her own realization of how she personally has been affected by the corporate/societal expecation of female beauty.

[Chrissy · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit repetitive but good book