Customer Rating: 
Summary: A Classic
Comment: I don't know why no one else has reviewed this book yet. Fat is a Feminist Issue was first published in 1978. I believe it's been continually in print since then. Many current "diet" authors are greatly indebted to Susie Orbach's work but I rarely see them give her credit.
I was recently re-reading my much thumbed copy of FIAFI to supplement the information in Martha Beck's book The 4-Day Win and was struck by how our culture is now giving men the same messages about looks to men that used to previously be given only to women. (You think I'm kidding -- Men's Health reads like a male version of Glamour or Cosmo.) In the 21st C, fat is apparently not just a feminist issue but an issue for men and children as well.
While the language is a bit dated, the content is not. Most libraries have a copy of this book--because it really is a classic. Check it out that way if no other.
Customer Rating:
Summary: What a Relief
Comment: This book introduced me to the idea that compulsive eaters like myself have something invested in being overweight, which helped me understand my own lose-weight-gain weight cycles. The ideas in this book plus a 6-month program with a health counselor got me off the dieting cycle I've been on for the past 25 years. Going from fat to thinner -- changing my body shape dramatically -- brings up a lot of fear and anger with me, and this book has helped me acknowledge that. Outside help has been great, too. Though the title seems radical, its not a feminist rally cry. I think its really helpful for people struggling with their body size.
Customer Rating:
Summary: So Much Insight
Comment: I haven't been a big fan of the concept of feminism in the past and I had to be talked into buying this book by a friend, but I have to say it has done wonders for me, my attitude and my understanding of my relationship with food, fat and my family. UNlike other self-help books, this one is not designed to take you step-by-step through the process, but was, instead, designed to help people create their own support groups to discuss issues associated with weight and compulsive eating.
I have never considered myself a compulsive eater, so this is not something I would have gone to a group for or read about. But the book holds many insights around weight, attention, nurturance, the ability to care for oneself, a woman's relationship with her mother and more that hit home with me. I finished the book a few days ago and I've already dropped four pounds. I'm not dieting, but I have been addressing the issues that the book triggered for me. I expect that the weight will continue to come off naturally as a result of this work being completed. It's great to have had this resource.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Woman, get a clue about reality
Comment: This gal is taking Weight Watchers to court. I wouldn't suggest anyone waste a penny buying this dribble whe writes!
Customer Rating:
Summary: How Will You Be Who You Wish To Be?
Comment: I first read this book in 1978. And I'm so happy to have read this a few times more. One of the most valuable questions that Susie Orbach asks is, "How will I be who I wish to be, if I look as I am supposed to look?" I suggest that when you ask this question, do so with the intention of envisioning an answer that works well for you, regardless of what you have seen, "out there." This is a question allows women to take ownership of their mind, body and soul.
Each year, I interview high school students, regarding their eating and body image beliefs. And I have seen a growing problem. By this time in their lives, both women and men now, get so caught up in an imaged protrayed by all forms of the media, that we can lose sight of who we are really meant to be.
The reasons for the problem have a long history with women, and a different reason for women than men. As men are complimented more on how they look, not as a means to flirt with them, but as a measurement of having what it takes, they are being pushed into some of the body image issues that women have a long history with.
This is also an excellent question to ask myself, in times when normally I might doubt my eating choices, my beauty, my being enough, or how my ability to be open to others, and still have boundaries in place.
I am eternally grateful for this book. Three excellent follow up books to this book, are, "My Mother Myself," by Nancy Friday," "Fat and Furious," by Judi Hollis, then "Overcoming Overeating," by Carol Munter and Jane Hirschmann.
