The fat acceptance movement has been around for decades now, and has even gained mainstream traction in recent years, usually under the banner of "body positivity" or the rejection of "diet culture." Nowadays, even fitness influencers and women's magazines feel the need to downplay weight loss as an exercise goal. Weight management services sometimes avoid the word "diet" in favor of championing "wellness." But right in the middle of this slow-moving gain toward a more body-inclusive culture, a bomb was dropped: The sudden arrival and rapid spread of weight-loss drugs like Wegovy and Ozempic. Both are being marketed as something akin to a "miracle cure," allowing people to lose a lot of weight, something rarely achieved through diet and exercise alone.
It's a hell of an environment for Kate Manne to publish her new book "Unshrinking: How to Face Fatphobia." Yet the Cornell philosophy professor exudes the same calm, rational style of argument that she has offered in previous works addressing misogyny. She spoke with Salon about why she believes the weight-loss drug revolution is overrated and why it's still important to push back against the overwhelming pressure on women to be thin.
