2 Books Like On Bigotry

Size discrimination leads to getting paid inequitably, receiving inferior health care, and being classified by teachers as unintelligent. These facts alone should convince you that fatphobia is a form of oppression. Moreover, philosopher Manne’s personal struggles with dieting punctuate that fatphobia seeps into all our souls. The solution, she advocates in this engagingly written book, is for fat people to stop thinking of themselves as thin people trapped in large bodies and to stand in solidarity with other fat people—and for everyone to challenge this insidious injustice.

In this juicy novel that begins on the campus of Vassar in the aftermath of World War II, Anne guards her secret—that she is Jewish—as her charmed-life WASPy classmates denigrate Jewish people at large, and one Jewish classmate in particular, Delia. But Anne is drawn to stylish, sophisticated Delia and befriends her—until Anne betrays and slut-shames her. The suspenseful narrative ripens as the story moves to France and Palestine/Israel. This can’t-put-it-down novel spurred me to think about cruelty and discrimination, forgiveness and growth.