The Complete Guide to Mental Health for Women Book

It is hard to describe Fat Chicks Rule! : How to survive in a thin-centric world by Lara Frater, and I definitely have mixed feelings over it. Overall, I was decently pleased with the book because of the knowledge I learned from it. I learned things and situation that I wouldn't have realized otherwise such as: possibly needing to buy two airplane seats to sit comfortably (and that a lot of places will charge you extra for it), which clothing departments sell plus-sized outfits (such as Torrid--I love that store) as well as some good online websites that carry or cater to the plus-sized persuasion, and what the fat acceptance movement is. These are definitely good things to know and to be aware of. With that being said, I do have to be honest about some things that Lara Frater wrote that I wasn't fond of.

One aspect of this book that I didn't quite enjoy such as the "snappy comebacks" section. This part of the book provides quick-fire "comeback" responses to someone who is vocally fat-shaming you or someone else. The responses were often juvenile and usually revolved around sex a lot and I felt such petty comebacks would either lower yourself to the fat-shaming individual's level or would turn the whole serious situation into a bad joke. I understand where Lara Frater was trying to go with this--she was trying to be witty and funny with these suggested replies, but this part ultimately fell flat and left a disappointed taste in my mouth after reading it.

A second aspect of this book that I didn't enjoy was the lack of self-love discussion in this book. Granted, Frater DID discuss this a little bit (and boy do I mean just a little), but it was peppered in one of the chapters (it didn't even have a chapter devoted to it) and it really wasn't something that was mentioned throughout the book. Instead of trying to focus on self-love and self-care or being healthy, Frater essentially accuses the world of attacking fat people (okay, perhaps not in so many words but the vibe is definitely there)-- air lines with their small seats, stores having plus-sized clothing in the backs of stores, the overwhelming dieting industry, etc.

Now that I've mentioned Frater's opinion of the dieting industry, instead of dieting, the author advises plus-sized women to simply "eat normal"... whatever "normal" is. She doesn't really go into the specifics other than "eat veggies and fruit", which… sure, that's always a good goal. But I would have liked to have seen Frater offer up some ways to incorporate more fruits and vegetables in dishes or the best places to go to get fresh produce at reasonable prices.

Although Lara Frater's Fat Chicks Rule! had me feeling indecisive, I was glad to read this even if just to open my awareness of the issues that larger women face in our society today. I would recommend this book if you have a general curiosity about this topic. But if you were hoping for a more positive and more self-accepting book, I would probably look elsewhere.