Body Positive Power by Megan Jayne Crabbe
Megan Jayne Crabbe was the ultimate timeline palette cleanser for me when I came across her on Instagram in 2020. It was the first time I’d seen a body that resembled mine, just existing on the internet, happily and without self-criticism, ever. And what a breath of fresh air that was. I’ve followed her ever since, and her book, content, and inclusive, sisterly presence on my socials has been such an integral stepping stone in my own journey to self-acceptance. Megan, and other creators working so hard to create safe spaces for conversations on body image, self-worth, and mental health, heavily inspired the character of Bliss in Girl, Ultra-Processed.
Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams
This book bared my soul. It’s an overused phrase, I know, but when I tell you I felt seen when I read it, please believe that I’d never related so hard to a fictional character. And that is because Queenie herself doesn’t feel fictional, she feels so very real and complex, three-dimensional in both her quest for self-understanding and her sabotaging of it. Getting help is hard, doing the work is hard, especially when that work is self-acceptance and learning to let in love. It’s harder still as a plus-size woman of colour because it already feels like the world doesn’t have enough love for you in it. I felt my experience of this reflected in Queenie’s relationships with boys and herself and wanted to acknowledge this painful part of selfhood in Saffron’s story too.
Eat, and Love Yourself by Sweeney Boo
Raw depictions of body dysmorphia and disordered eating are blended with tender romance and magical realism in this beautiful graphic novel. Boo’s art is slick, punky, and reminded me of nineties cartoons. I devoured it in one sitting, and it felt dreamy and ruminating all at once. We accompany our main character, Mindy, who eats a magic chocolate bar that transports her back to pivotal past moments that fed into her negative body image and struggle with bulimia. Most of these moments come from ‘well-meaning’ friends and family who don’t realise the damaging impact their comments on Mindy’s body is having. I think this will always be a message I want to weave through my work, that no matter our intention, we have no idea how what we say will affect another person or what pain they’re going through internally.
Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding
Admittedly, I read this book in my teens, but I religiously watch the film every year (because it’s Christmas-adjacent) and some of Bridget’s most notable quotes are still recited by me and my best friends on the regs. In terms of body image, it has aged like milk; the way Bridget (and numerous other characters!?) obsesses over her weight is rancid. But, if anything, it is a zeitgeisty romcom time capsule that shows how mainstream toxic diet culture was in the nineties and noughties. Bridget marries her thinness to her self-worth and ability to be loved, which is never not heartbreaking, but having this message delivered by a character who more than fits society’s body standard and yet describes being 130lbs as a ‘terrifying slide into obesity’ is so devastating. And this would’ve informed the body image of millennial mums like Saffron’s and told them that to be fat was to be ugly and unlovable, that weight was something to be obsessively monitored and controlled. With Girl, Ultra-Processed I wanted to show how negative body image is a particularly sinister type of generational trauma that is often unknowingly passed down to us. I still recommend this book because I believe there to be value in reading it through a healed, 2020’s lens.
No Filter and Other Lies by Crystal Maldonado
I stumbled across this book when searching for other YA titles that have a messy main character who dabbles in catfishing, and I’m so glad I did. It’s a story with a whole lot to say about social media validation – chasing likes and followers – a vital issue affecting so many young people today. No Filter’s protagonist, Kat, is a fat, queer, BIPOC girl puppeteering the account of thin, White, made-up Max Monroe. Like Saffron, Kat is made to doubt her worth because of the body she is in and believes her true self to be not enough. Because of this, she takes on the persona of someone the world tells us is valued: someone White, pretty, skinny, and popular. Maldonado really gives the online experience as a minority compared to someone embodying society’s beauty standard the room to breathe, and what follows is chaotic exploration of pretty privilege, social media addiction, catfishing, and comparison being a dirty thief of joy.
Girl, Ultra-Processed by Amara Sage is out now in paperback and ebook.
A searing look at diet culture and all its ugly consequences, from the talented writer of Influential.