Real Women Don't Diet

by Ken Mayer

Challenging the sterotypical ideals of feminine sexiness, an uplifting, inspirational guide explains how overweight women can enhance their self-esteem and take pride in themselves as they are.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786002476
• ISBN13: 9780786002474
• Release Date: March 1995
• Publisher: Pinnacle Books
• Weight: 0.24 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 4.2" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

Two NAAFA reviews

Reviewed by Doug Zimmer Can a fat-admiring heterosexual male speak meaningfully to the self-interest of women of size? As an FA, Ken Mayer's motives could be considered suspicious. Doesn't he have a vested interest in fat women? And how can he really know what women put up with? In Real Women Don't Diet, Mayer reveals enough of himself to prove honest and argues well enough to prove sincere. Mayer takes strong feminist positions, comparable to those of Kim Chernin and Naomi Wolf. He argues that the forces that make women physically small also diminish their power. When weakness and immaturity are portrayed as sexy, when surgery becomes a necessary component of fashion and fashion becomes a necessary component of life, when women would literally rather die than be fat, Mayer contends that women are being diverted from the real issues of life by the institutions their power threatens. Models spend weeks torturing themselves for one single day, when a photographer shoots hundreds of photos in the hope of producing one momentary illusion of unnatural perfection. The result is an appeal to elitism and mass insecurity. Fashion is a waste of money, time and life. Mayer takes similar aim at a medical industry that puts profits over safety. The author shares stories of his fat friends' ordeals, ranging from the indignity of getting diet advice from a doctor fatter than oneself, to the terror of being threatened with running, tied to a moving car. Mayer also claims to have personally experienced a small taste of the pressure women face. As a wrestler, he chronically underwent his own body wars, bingeing, purging and malnourishing himself for the sake of a temporary weight loss goal. Mayer doesn't recall any conscious decision to become an FA, but he doesn't simply dismiss it as genetic programming. I was intrigued by our similarities and differences. Still, we agree that a preference doesn't make a relationship. True partners are interested in each other's well-being. Mayer is not perfect. He has some peculiar, even contradictory opinions. But his advice is good. To men he says: Stop being "tough," start communicating. Don't "score," participate. To women he says: Stop listening to the shrill voice of fashion. Don't let a doctor tell you how you feel. Take responsibility for your own health and happiness. To everyone he says: Discover your own personal values. Celebrate diversity. Do something IMPORTANT with your life. I find that a very affirming way of defining what makes people "real." Reviewed by Cathy Miller Ken Mayer is angry about the abusive treatment of large women, and he's not going to take it anymore. The author takes to task virtually all of society in his ambitious quest to uncover the reasons for discrimination against women of size. He attempts to become philosopher, psychologist, and economist to illustrate how our culture has failed all women by rejecting fat women. Mayer's style is unsophisticated and direct. The book is pe