passing for thin: losing half my weight and finding myself
by frances kuffel
Most obese women think, "If I lost weight, I would be happy." Frances Kuffel's book shows that it's just not that simple.
Prejudice against fat is so deep and so far-reaching that it marginalizes the obese. It cripples emotional and social development. In this book, Frances Kuffel tells the truth about what it's like to be obese from childhood. She tells the truth about losing 170 pounds (did you hear me? she lost 170 pounds) at age 41. She found that her old clothes didn't fit (good) but neither did her old personality (surprise). When she reached size 10, Kuffel had to dismantle her identity and build another. She turned inward to discover why.
Like many obese women, Kuffel had internalized society's disapproval. She didn't like herself or other obese women.
Have you ever noticed another woman giving you the once-over in the street, and glowed because you knew she was jealous? Kuffel experienced that for the first time in her life at the age of 41. For that matter, she became visible for the first time at the age of 41. This is serious culture shock.
Kuffel calls it different planets. The Planet of Girl, for example, is where she learned, at 41, what other women learned when they were girls - nails, eyebrows, hair, the whole Barbie trip. Obese girls don't learn these things. They're irrelevant. Equally irrelevant are the things that girls learn about boys - how to date, how to kiss. This, too, she had to learn.
For the obese, successful weight loss means total rehab. It could begin with what Kuffel would say to the obese: "It's not your fault." This book could be a first step for individuals and for society as a whole. It is well-written, the characters are vivid, and it makes a good read. I recommend it.
Prejudice against fat is so deep and so far-reaching that it marginalizes the obese. It cripples emotional and social development. In this book, Frances Kuffel tells the truth about what it's like to be obese from childhood. She tells the truth about losing 170 pounds (did you hear me? she lost 170 pounds) at age 41. She found that her old clothes didn't fit (good) but neither did her old personality (surprise). When she reached size 10, Kuffel had to dismantle her identity and build another. She turned inward to discover why.
Like many obese women, Kuffel had internalized society's disapproval. She didn't like herself or other obese women.
Have you ever noticed another woman giving you the once-over in the street, and glowed because you knew she was jealous? Kuffel experienced that for the first time in her life at the age of 41. For that matter, she became visible for the first time at the age of 41. This is serious culture shock.
Kuffel calls it different planets. The Planet of Girl, for example, is where she learned, at 41, what other women learned when they were girls - nails, eyebrows, hair, the whole Barbie trip. Obese girls don't learn these things. They're irrelevant. Equally irrelevant are the things that girls learn about boys - how to date, how to kiss. This, too, she had to learn.
For the obese, successful weight loss means total rehab. It could begin with what Kuffel would say to the obese: "It's not your fault." This book could be a first step for individuals and for society as a whole. It is well-written, the characters are vivid, and it makes a good read. I recommend it.
This review appears at Amazon http://tinyurl.com/jf8h4