Gay situates her experience within the evolving storm of media comments on the female body. However, they also inspire empathy and understanding, with the hope of rewriting the narrative of body image. These stories leave you in despair, inciting anger over the coldness of individual actions and conversations fuelled by the notion that fat is not feminine. Strangers also treat her body as a public space, failing to hide their unsolicited opinion and offering weight loss advice as if she lacked common sense. These experiences happen among friends and family, disguising their reactions as concern for her health and wellbeing. The world refuses to accommodate her body, ridiculing her every time she is in a public space, a restaurant, shopping for clothes, or travelling on an aeroplane. Her memoir illustrates countless incidents of mistreatment due to her size, from the Doctor encouraging her to get a gastric band, to the PR agent who makes a scene finding her an adequate seat.

Gay’s intimate memoir shows how weight is influenced by changing episodes in life, however, it should not determine your place in society, nor does it determine your character or intellect.Īnecdotes and social commentary permeate the text, giving the reader an intimate view of Gay’s experience of body shaming. Food was a constant ally, in schools and universities which questioned her place because of her Haitian heritage. Loneliness too affected her relationship with food, a longing to form lasting friendships crippled as she frequently relocated across America for her Father’s work.

She explains how fatness deters the advances of men with the knowledge that society deems fat as undesirable. Dependent on food for comfort and protection, she built her body into a protective yet isolating cage. As a victim of child rape, she tells her story of how she lost control over her body weight. Roxane Gay’s Hunger will compel you to reform your views of fatness, body image, and belonging.

Hunger a memoir of my body review