I'm excited to be joining in another Bookish Blog Hop!
Each day, bloggers answer questions about themselves and the books they are reading.
Yesterday, we were over at the Upstream Writer Blog hosted by Leslie Conzatti where we talked about books we own but haven't read yet.
Today's prompt is:
A Book With A Body Positive Theme!
Horror is frequently misogynistic, filled with scantily clad women who are voted most likely to die first by the hands of the killer. These highly sexualized women tend to be blond and thin—shallow "bimbo" types—who are the epitome of what the male viewer is supposed to idolize. Horror movies have long portrayed female characters as either the "whore", who is essentially punished for her sexuality, or the "virgin", the remarkably less-attractive modest female who often gets to be the "final girl", as if that behavior makes her the only one deserving of surviving.
For years, horror fiction followed that same formula, but we have recently seen a reversal of this line of thinking (and writing). Horror has become progressively more feminist. We have gotten much stronger female protagonists who are clever and much more than their physical appearance, catapulting us (and rightfully so) beyond the bimbos of horror. Even with this new found more progressive view, there's honestly not a whole lot of body positive horror novels out there with fat protagonists. By this I mean, stories where the characters are more than their size, where fat just happens to be what they are without affecting WHO they are. Because of this, I'm very excited about a new anthology releasing soon called Diet Riot: A Fatterpunk Anthology, edited by Nico Bell and Sonora Taylor.
From the submission site, the description reads:
It’s time to reclaim the “f” word. Diet Riot: A Fatterpunk Anthology is dedicated to empowering fat characters within the horror community. Give us your rage over weigh-ins, your detest over detox cleanses, your rebellion against diet culture. Give us bad-ass characters who own their size and never apologize for taking up space. This is a horror anthology, so be sure to have your character in some kind of horror story--but, we are open to what that story is! We welcome haunted houses, ghost stories, creature features, splatterpunk, serial killers, witches, monsters, you name it. Just make sure your story features at least one fat protagonist. Fat people are often degraded in literature, especially in horror. It’s disheartening to see someone’s natural body be portrayed as disgusting and inherently bad. Diet Riot: A Fatterpunk Anthology aims to give that trope the heartiest “fuck you” that our big selves can muster. So go on, send us what you’ve got!
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Here's what the others had to say:
Leslie Conzatti -- www.upstreamwriter.blogspot.com
I don’t really actively seek out body-positive books, but I do appreciate when the theme crops up in the narrative of any book I’m reading!
However, one book in particular that I can think of to fit this theme is The Skin I’m In by Sharon G. Flake. It’s important to me because it was given to me by a fifth-grade student who knew how much I love books and writing, and she loved the book herself because of how much she related to the main character.
The theme of body positivity in this book pertains to the matters of race, and skin color. The main character, Maleeka, is taunted at school because she looks different… until a teacher arrives at the school who has a very obvious blemish on her face, but she doesn’t seem bothered by it. The teacher shows Maleeka how to love the skin she’s in, no matter what it looks like. It’s a very sweet and impactful little book!
Jo Linsdell -
www.JoLinsdell.com
A book that fits this theme that I’ve been meaning to read since I watched the film adaptation of it is Dumplin‘ by Julie Murphy.
About the book:
Now a popular Netflix feature film, starring Jennifer Aniston, Danielle Macdonald, and Dove Cameron, as well as a soundtrack from Dolly Parton!
The #1 New York Times bestseller and feel-good YA of the year—about Willowdean Dixon, the fearless, funny, and totally unforgettable heroine who takes on her small town’s beauty pageant.
Self-proclaimed fat girl Willowdean Dickson (dubbed “Dumplin’” by her former beauty queen mom) has always been at home in her own skin. Her thoughts on having the ultimate bikini body? Put a bikini on your body.
With her all-American beauty best friend, Ellen, by her side, things have always worked . . . until Will takes a job at Harpy’s, the local fast-food joint. There she meets Private School Bo, a hot former jock. Will isn’t surprised to find herself attracted to Bo. But she is surprised when he seems to like her back.
Instead of finding new heights of self-assurance in her relationship with Bo, Will starts to doubt herself. So she sets out to take back her confidence by doing the most horrifying thing she can imagine: entering the Miss Clover City beauty pageant—along with several other unlikely candidates—to show the world that she deserves to be up there as much as any girl does.
Along the way, she’ll shock the hell out of Clover City—and maybe herself most of all.
Vidya Tiru -
LadyInReadWrites (Instagram | Twitter | Facebook )
While I don’t specifically go looking for books with any theme in mind, including today’s theme of body positivity, I am glad when I read books that address these tough issues. We need reads like this, for they help throw light on the issue itself while addressing how we can make things better.
I read quite a few books that dealt with the subject of body image in the past year. A couple of my favorite reads among those include Fat Chance, Charlie Vega and How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe. Both these YA reads tackle many issues along with the theme of body positivity; and each one does it beautifully without overplaying anything. I am sure you will love Charlie and Moon just as much as I did.
Another book I want to recommend here is a nonfiction read for younger readers, and aptly and simply titled Love Your Body.
Book description for each listed book (excerpted from Goodreads):
Fat Chance, Charlie Vega: A sensitive, funny, and painful coming-of-age story with a wry voice and tons of chisme, Fat Chance, Charlie Vega tackles our relationships to our parents, our bodies, our cultures, and ourselves.
How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe: A romance starring a Mexican American teen who discovers love and profound truths about the universe when she spends her summer on a road trip across the country.
Love Your Body: This book introduces the language of self-love and self-care to help build resilience, while representing and celebrating diverse bodies, encouraging girls to appreciate their uniqueness
Be sure to check out the other days of the hop!!
