Landwhale: On Turning Insults Into Nicknames, Why Body Image Is Hard, and How Diets Can Kiss My Ass

by Jes Baker

Overview

By the author of Things No One Will Tell Fat Girls and a heroine of the body image movement, an intimate, gutsy memoir about being a fat woman

Jes Baker burst onto the body positivity scene when she created her own ads mocking Abercrombie & Fitch for discriminating against all body types — a move that landed her on the Today Show and garnered a loyal following for her raw, honest, and attitude-filled blog missives.
Building on the manifesta power of Things, this memoir goes deeply into Jes's inner life, from growing up a fat girl to dating while fat. With material that will have readers laughing and crying along with Jes's experience, this new book is a natural fit with her irreverent, open-book style.
A deeply personal take, Landwhale is a glimpse at life as a fat woman today, but it's also a reflection of the unforgiving ways our culture still treats fatness, all with Jes's biting voice as the guide.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781580056816
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	05/08/2018
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Jes Baker is a positive, progressive, and magnificently irreverent force to be reckoned with in the realm of self-love advocacy and mental health. She believes in the importance of body autonomy, TYPING IN ALL CAPS, strong coffee, and even stronger language.

Jes is internationally recognized for her writing on her blog, The Militant Baker and for the "Attractive and Fat" campaign. Her extensive body advocacy work has continued to garner attention from hundreds of national and international media networks.

When not blogging, Jes spends her time speaking at universities, taking pictures in her underwear, writing for online publications, working with plus size clothing companies, attempting to convince her cats that they like to wear bow ties and trying to beat her best time when playing The Quiet Game. Jes's record is currently a respectable 15 seconds.

Learn more about Jes at TheMilitantBaker.com.

Table of Contents

Trigger Warnings, Disclaimers, and Other Things xi

1 This Was All Just a Big Mistake 1

2 6 Ways to Hate Your Body 13

3 I Was a Fat Kid 20

4 I Wasn't Actually a Fat Kid 32

5 The Fat Cowgirl Position 47

6 Landwhale 59

7 Things I Thought I Couldn't Do but Then Did 65

8 HAES, Hot Mics, and Other Things I Learned About the Hard Way 80

9 I've Never Owned a Body 96

10 Sick 117

11 Safety Scares the Shit Out of Me 122

12 Three Vaginas 131

13 So, Have You Ever Thought About Dieting? 147

14 Maybe I'm a Hobbit? 159

15 In Praise of Loud and Fat Women 170

16 David and Goliath 184

17 The Pros and Cons of Being Fat 209

18 American Billboard 224

19 The Bulletproof Fatty 232

20 6 Ways to Love Your Body 243

Thank You. Thank You Very Much 251

Editorial Reviews

"Baker is back with a captivating look at her life as a fat girl and how our culture still devalues those whose bodies have been deemed unruly. True to form, Landwhale is full of wittiness and a lot of truth."
—Bitch

"It's tempting to call Jes Baker 'fearless,' but to do so would diminish her profound capacity for vulnerability and, by extension, her strength. The thing that makes Jes such a force is that she is so brave, so funny, so blazing, so herself, even in the face of fear. I do not know what we would do without her."—Lindy West, New York Times bestselling author of Shrill

"Funny, kind, wise, generous, and incredibly real-Jes Baker's writing will have you feeling seen, heard, and held. I enjoyed every minute of reading this book, even when it made me cry. Instead of calling to us from a finish line that seems impossibly far away, Jes shares a path to self-love that she's still on with us. And in her story we can find the joy in the journey itself, even if we can't yet see the destination."—Ijeoma Oluo, New York Times bestselling author of So You Want To Talk About Race

"With the perfect tidal wave of humor and candid emotion, Jes once again shows me how to not only love my own body, but every body around me, as well. It's as if she's written Landwhale about the daily complicated love affair I have in my skin, and I'll never stop reading it. All women, at all stages of their journey, must read this book!"—Brittany Gibbons, New York Times bestselling author of Fat Girl Walking and The Clothes Make the Girl (Look Fat)?

"In Landwhale, Jes Baker asks the hard questions of herself and of our fat-hating culture, and she never sugarcoats the answers. Her memoir is full of humor and grace and honesty. She treats the reader like a friend, and on every page she sends the message: You're not alone."—Sarai Walker, author of Dietland

"Jes Baker's words are ointment for the soul. I want to give this book to every person who's ever struggled with their body and its place in this world. Read this book. Thank me later."—Julie Murphy, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dumplin'

"Jes Baker is building a world I want to live in. In it, fat people can be beautiful, powerful, messy, imperfect, self-aware, courageous, vulnerable, real and human—just like anyone else. Landwhale is a lifeline to that world. I can't thank Jes enough for her funny, brave, empowering work to create it."—Your Fat Friend

"Whether she is reminding how fatphobia fractures the honest memory of our childhood bodies or she is shadow walking us through the stories of shame our own mothers and father's projected onto our bodies, Landwhale is an ode to the bravery and humor it takes to live in this world in a fat body. Praise Jes Baker for this generous, tender tale and for reminding us that it is okay to go ahead and live OUTLOUD because whatever we have most feared, we have already survived."—Sonya Renee Taylor, activist and author of The Body is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love

"Funny, frank, and thoughtful."—Booklist

"One of the most honest and eye opening memoirs you'll read this year."—HelloGiggles

"Baker returns with her signature blend of laugh-out-loud, self-deprecating humor and deeply personal ruminations... she attacks our sizeist, fat-phobic culture head on. A must-read for women of all shapes and sizes."—BUST

From the Publisher

05/01/2018
Baker, a photographer, activist, and author (Things No One Will Tell Fat Girls), is best known for her leadership role in the body positivity movement. Her latest book, while honest and funny, also hits to the heart of society's negative portrayals of women who aren't a size 0. Baker not only derides the thinness cult but also poses tough questions about existing for the male gaze, discusses her experiences trying popular diets, and candidly weighs the pros and cons of being fat. The essence of her journey toward self-acceptance is that one can and should feel good about one's body. VERDICT A great read for women who are slaving away at diet regimens and trying to meet an ideal feminine form.

Library Journal