Hayley Reviews: Happy Fat by Sofie Hagen

This Valentine’s day I wanted to focus on self-love and the importance of being able to love and support yourself, acknowledging ways that we can be kind to ourselves, especially during such a challenging time.

Since maybe the second month of quarantine I started to notice a wave of unusual posts on social media. Many friends and people I follow, who are usually very vocal about body positivity, begun posting about how miserable they had become after gaining weight. I have not been immune to this (both recently gaining weight and subsequently feeling bad about it) but it was jarring to see people who I knew did not tolerate fat-shaming directed at anyone else, welcoming the shame onto themselves. I had heard about this book not long after quarantine started, but it has taken me until now to read it. I only wish I had read it sooner.

Part memoir part social commentary, comedian Sofie Hagen tackles the fatphobic influences in her life and explores her journey to body acceptance. Hagen looks at how systems such as the patriarchy and capitalism benefit from the shame around fatness, and how we can combat those systems, both as a society and as individuals. The book is well researched, drawing on multiple scientific studies, as well as acknowledging the history of the Fat Liberation movement and the black and queer women who begun it. Hagen includes interviews with Fat Liberation activists which helps to open up the discussion and acknowledge the intersections of fatness with race, gender, disability and sexuality, moving the conversation away from focusing solely on the experience of those who are white/able bodied/cis-gendered/straight. They discuss how this is prevalent in the ‘body positivity’ movement which still often prioritises white, thin bodies, effectively excluding the very people who started it.

Hagen gives practical steps to help you accept and love your body, sometimes parodying the mantras that “reducing” industries such as diet clubs and food supplement brands often peddle.

From the trouble with plane seats to getting stuck in public toilets, Hagen’s approach is tender and funny, their personal anecdotes giving the book real charm. Their own experiences help acknowledge that there are a multitude of influences in our lives that encourage us to shrink, and that accepting and loving your body is a journey we should support ourselves and each other on.