Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body

by Roxane Gay

I ate and ate and ate in the hopes that if I made myself big, my body would be safe. I buried the girl I had been because she ran into all kinds of trouble. I tried to erase every memory of her, but she is still there, somewhere. She is still small and scared and ashamed, and perhaps I am writing my way back to her, trying to tell her everything she needs to hear.

What does it say about our culture that the desire for weight loss is considered a default feature of womanhood?

as if I cannot be fat and also possess what they see as valuable qualities.

Or maybe this is someone else’s shame and I’m just being forced to carry it.