Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body

by Roxane Gay

I am determined to be more than my body—what my body has endured, what my body has become. Determination, though, has not gotten me very far.

Do I tell you I know I should not consider the truth of my body shameful? Or do I just tell you the truth while holding my breath and awaiting your judgment?

What those doctors offered was so tempting, so seductive: this notion that we could fall asleep for a few hours, and within a year of waking up, most of our problems would be solved, at least according to the medical establishment. That is, of course, if we continued to delude ourselves that our bodies were our biggest problem.

The term “morbid obesity” frames fat people like we are the walking dead, and the medical establishment treats us accordingly.

This commentary is often couched as concern, as people only having your best interests at heart. They forget that you are a person. You are your body, nothing more, and your body should damn well become less.