Body image is not one of my favorite things to talk about. You’ll almost never find me talking about it in person. Maybe its because I’m not quite comfortable with my own body image, or maybe its because I’m afraid I’ll offend someone else. Maybe it’s a little bit of both.
Maybe this is why I was embarrassed when I took a certain book to the checkout line at the thrift store, and why I didn’t want other people to see I was reading it. The book was a fast read, but I kept it by my bed for a whole week. Titled, Does This Book Make Me Look Fat?, it is a collection of short stories about body image. Some of the stories are personal and told by people who have struggled with their own problems with body image. Other stories are fictional. I was pleasantly surprised to see that some of my favorite authors like Ellen Hopkins (Crank, Burned, Impulse and Glass), Carolyn Mackler (The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things), and Megan McCafferty (Sloppy Firsts, Second Helpings, Charmed Thirds, and Forth Comings), were included in this books. I have fond memories of reading their books during my high school summers. Other authors such as Wendy McClure, who has written for Bust magazine, and cartoonists Jeff Dillon and Lauren R. Weinstein, were also included in this book, and rightfully so.
This was one of those books that I was glad I picked up, purely because it makes me rethink how I feel about body image. All of the stories were interesting and I felt like I could relate to each one of them in some way. But the best part was hearing stories about body image from the familiar voices of some of my favorite authors, making a difficult topic for me, a little less difficult.