The diet book called “Skinny Bitch” has been flying off bookstore shelves, buoyed by the modeling pedigree of its authors and a frank “stop eating crap” message that distinguishes it from traditional diet books.
But this week, Salon magazine is taking “Skinny Bitch” to task, claiming it preys on the insecurities of dieters and people with eating disorders. “The only thing this weight-loss book will help you lose is self-esteem,” states the article.
As reported last fall in The Times, “Skinny Bitch” looks like a diet book for the chick-lit generation, but inside is a hardcore vegan message. Readers attracted by the book’s irreverent tone have been surprised to encounter chapters on meat and poultry farming practices.
Salon writer Julie Klausner says that in addition to the hidden vegan agenda, the book’s authors, Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin, have filled the book with “punitive dieting tactics that prey on women’s insecurities about their bodies.” Ms. Barnouin is a former model, and Ms. Freedman is a former modeling agent.
The relentless bullying peppered throughout the authors’ advice accounts for much of the book’s humor, including quips like …”don’t be a fat pig anymore.” It was a formerly anorexic friend of mine who nailed it when she read excerpts from the book. “When you have an eating disorder,” she told me, “that’s the voice you hear in your head all the time.”
Thanks to “Skinny Bitch,” women who hate their bodies no longer need rely on their own self-loathing to stoke the flames of what seems like motivation but is actually self-flagellation — penance for the sin of being too fat. Now dieters can have the convenience of a former model (Barnouin) and a former modeling agent (Freedman) putting their transgressions in the black-and-white terms of right and wrong. “If you eat crap,” they chirp, “you are crap.”
The popular book already has a sequel, called “Skinny Bitch in the Kitch,” and Salon reports that a men’s version, called “Skinny Bastard,” is slated for a 2009 release. To read the full Salon review, click here.
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From 1 to 25 of 179 Comments
The title of the book turned me off. I don’t want to be “skinny” or a “bitch”!
That said, the fact that neither of the authors actually has a nutrition degree from an accredited institution is worrisome. Eating vegan in a healthful manner can be very positive step for one’s health and the environment; however, it takes dedication, planning and time. I know plenty of unhealthy and/or overweight vegans. I also know plenty of people who hide eating disorders behind such restrictive eating regimes.
— SharonNo wonder so many women hate themselves and their bodies!!
It must be hell to be subject to this incessant bombardment of propaganda telling you that you’re not a good woman unless you are excessively thin - it’s a wonder there aren’t more women suffering from anorexia or bulemia!
This book takes it to a whole other level - it presents a world where there are only two types of women - “fat pigs” and “skinny bitches”!!!
That is horrible!!!
— Gregory A. ButlerHow about someone writes a book called “Intelligent, Graceful, Elegant, Beautiful, Happy, and Well-Mannered Healthy Women?”
Those skinny bitches are probably all iron deficient. And they’re most likely bitchy because they don’t eat enough chocolate.
(Which should be as dark as possible. But of course, because we all need our antioxidants. Hah. Didn’t think of that, did you, Skinny Bitches?)
— M.this book is definitely aimed towards insecure masochistic people with the vocabulary of a dirty-mouthed ten year old.
what you term “irreverent” is just foul-mouthed and mental midgetry. it doesn’t take too much brains to figure out that if you cut out meat, dairy, and all junk food from your diet you too will be “skinny.”
thank god i borrowed the book from the library and didn’t subsidize these moral cretins, it’s hard to take animal rights seriously from these two women when it’s obvious they have no respect for mankind.
— srThe book is meant to be funny and empowering at the same time and the tone of the book offers a different way to motivate women. Even though a lot of their tips don’t ring true with my personal diet, their intent is to help women feel good about themselves through knowledge and control over what we put into our bodies. I think the success of the writers means they have made an impact and I wish them the best of luck!
— LisaUgh.
How horrible!
Apparently, someone missed the memo that women with a positive body image are usually more healthy than women who hate their bodies and themselves. “Don’t eat crap” is a great message. However, I bet I define the word differently than the authors of this book do. And the eating disorder hit is right on the mark. “You’re disgusting, stop stuffing your fat face,” is the inner monologue of the anorexic. How many women will read this book and develop serious health or emotional problems as a result of taking on this attitude towards themselves? It’s vicious and irresponsible and it sets back women twenty years to re-instill that voice in our heads.
And going vegan because a diet book berates you into feeling enough self-loathing to do it is a patently unhealthy choice. People switching to a vegetarian or vegan diet should do so gradually, under the guidance of a nutritionist, and because they *want* to, not because a diet book made them feel fat and worthless.
These women deserve the scorn they heap out on others.
— RowanI am so tired of the nasty, shallow appearance-oriented roles that women insist on playing… or playing into. The best way to keep going on any new food program is my sticking with it for a few weeks (one or two even) and letting the positive effects of healthy eating and the loss of those first few pounds, encourage you to eat better.
— stefzadI thought it was bad when I was younger, but we didn’t have size zero when I was in high school. I feel for the women who are going to by into this.
One diet does NOT fit all.
It’s dangerous to pretend to be an expert, giving diet advice as if everyone will have the same results. I became severely, dangerously anemic and malnourished on a very well-planned “macrobiotic” diet (with fish, seaweeds, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, healthy oils & no caffeine/sugar/alcohol). Turns out my body can’t make healthy blood on that diet.
All the so-called macrobiotic experts I saw never suggested blood work to find out why I felt so bad, they just blamed me for not working hard enough and then suggested a stricter regimen. It turned wanting to be healthy into an exercise in self-destruction. It sounds like these authors have that same condescending and counter-productive attitude.
What a shame.
— AmyAh. I am braced for the attack of the vegans, the macrobioticists, and the followers of “Ana” and “Mia”, but Sharon (1) has made an important point. Restrictive eating regimes can indeed be a cover for an unhealthy attitude toward food. Some of these diets rest on unexamined or unacknowledged beliefs about purity, pollution, and the sinful nature of the body that rival anything to come out of religious tradition.
Food is food. Like everything else, its production and consumption have economic, social, and moral consequences, but it is not a stairway to heaven.
— kalebergI would never buy a book that uses the term “bitch” in its title to describe women, even if it is meant to be humorous. When will women get over using this term to describe each other? It is sexist and demeaning.
Secondly, I enjoy eating lamb and chicken and would never go on a vegan diet. The vegans I know are self-righteous and don’t get enough protein. Since I am borderline anemic, I need the iron I get through meat and I won’t stop eating it just because of pseudo-moralistic preaching by women who worry too much about weight and not enough about more important issues like politics, art, literature, mental health equity, national health insurance, etc.
Judy
— JudyInteresting that everyone is taking offense at the word “skinny,” and their comments focusing on that, rather than the word “bitch.” It reminds me of Don Imus’ comment, and how the outcry against him was, initially, due to his use of the phrase “nappy-headed” as opposed to the word “hos.”
— Tish ThorntonTish #11, but of course! I don’t mind at all being caled a bitch. It’s empowering in certain contexts. But skinny- no thanks.
— AnnieTo Judy -
Get off your high horse. Unless you also work as the personal therapist and physician of all the “vegans you know”, how do you know they are “self-righteous and don’t get enough protein.” Talk about being self-righteous.
At least the authors of “Skinny Bitch” are thoughtful enough to worry about serious issues such as animal rights and environmental protection. And they care enough about those serious issues to do something about them and become vegans. You, on the other hand, are free to keep enjoying yourself with eating lamb and chicken. No one’s stopping you.
— JohnI am not a vegan, and I think meat and dairy are important components of a healthy diet. But it is true that the industrial meat and dairy “farms” are cruel, unsanitary, and environmentally unsound. I admire people who choose veganism as a moral choice, but pushing veganism on people only alienates them. I wish we could have a reasoned dialogue about the problems with the food industry without being devisive. I think it is possible to raise animals humanely, but the current level of awareness does not provide much incentive to do so.
— CarrieSee, what’s the big deal? I’m a vegan, and I’m not an anorexic girl, I eat about 3000 calories a day and am a hardcore endurance athlete. I don’t want to make anyone else a vegan (unless they want to be). I do it for animal rights reasons, and my own health. I have high blood iron levels, super strong bones and uber-defined muscles.
I don’t understand why everyone is so angry about the language. Just as one diet doesn’t fit all, so then does one diet-book not fit all. It’s actually a funny book. I may not advise others in the way that they do, but there’s a huge market for something different in the diet industry. All that stroking our egos and self-esteem has gotten is a bunch of obese, and undisciplined Americans. Not everything is easy, and that should be acknowledged.
— MelissaI friggin’ LOVED the book, it was fun, blunt & deeply informative. The authors took an approach never taken before, which I found brilliant. They got to the point in a clear, frank way. Not being direct about the facts is what keeps people chronically ill & uninformed about the various consequences of their dietary choices. The UN recently came out with a study confirming that animal agriculture is the #1 worst source of environmental destruction. Former surgeon general C. Everett Koop stated that 70% of disease is diet-related. The recent undercover footage from the Chino slaughterhouse demonstrates just a small part of what has been going on behind closed doors for years. The in-depth facts on the dangers of consuming aspartame was rare & wonderful. The extensive list of ingredients & their origin is extremely helpful. The 30 day sample meal plan is mouth-watering. If you want to be honest with yourself and move in a healthy direction, this is the first book I would recommend.
— Marr NealonJohn,
Guess what? The vegans (and vegetarians) I know are friends of mine who have never failed to become self-righteous about their diets when we eat dinner together. They make snide comments about my choices for dinner when I don’t make the same comments about their choices. I’ll never forget one of my friend’s comments about people who eat meat “being like Hitler.”
Your offense at my statements show I’ve touched a nerve with you. By the way, I would think that someone concerned with animal rights and environmental protection would also be concerned with women’s rights and women’s objections to the term “bitch” particularly when it comes from other women. Why don’t you try thinking about this from a more feminist perspective? Some men can do this.
Thanks for giving me permission to keep enjoying chicken and lamb. I will.
Judy
— Judy“Readers attracted by the book’s irreverent tone have been surprised to encounter chapters on meat and poultry farming practices.”
Tara: I think Diet books should have these kind of chapters. So, to me, this is a Big Plus for this book.
- Jack, http://www.forkandbottle.com
— Jack#6. We need to stop putting anorexic patients in the same bucket as those who are really overweight.
The latter really do need a lot more self-discipline. Start reading the recent literature. This self-esteem stuff is really passe; what we need, and what we should never have gotten away from is more willpower. It is the key to success in any endeavor.
No, I don’t mean anxiety-provoking, suicide-inducing, relationship-wrecking, sickness-inducing perfectionism (see anorexia above), but just a healthy dose of that good old-fashioned willpower, hard work, and determination.
— jackThe women who wrote this book needed a ‘catch’ to get published, and so they opted for the nasty title and crude content. That’s it. Their agent and modelling days may be over, so this is their new gimmick for making dough.
The question I have is why any woman buys and reads this book?! If one is truly interested in vegan diets or in weight loss or in eating healthy, there are so many other helpful weight loss/nutrition books and websites available…
— asAre we supposed to be worried that anorexics will follow this book’s advice? Doesn’t this book tell them to EAT SOMETHING?
— ChristinaJudy,
You didn’t touch a nerve, I merely found your sanctimoniousness laughable and your hostility curious.
“Why don’t you try thinking about this from a more feminist perspective? Some men can do this.” Please, spare me your gender card. In case you didn’t notice, both authors of the book are women. You’d need to try harder to blame this on men.
And no, there’s no such thing as women’s “rights” not to be called bitch. Not any more than men have a right not to be called jerk, or vegans have a right not to be called self-righteous.
What women, men, vegans, and non-vegans do have, is the rights to free speech. It’s called the first amendment. Look it up. And try to understand it. Some women can do that.
— JohnI definately think the authors of this book should be more clear about their agenda from the get-go. It is not primarily a useful weightloss book, rather its main point seems to be to shame readers into changing their eating habits for MORAL rather than nutritional reasons.
There is nothing at all wrong with veganism, although I must admit that I am not a vegan, and likely will never be.
After reading Michael Pollan’s much more balanced and well-researched book, I was convinced that industrial agriculture was a blight on society. I’ve since given up meat and meat products that come from industrial agriculture.
I’d much rather read a book that is well-thought and researched, with intellegent commentary than a book with quotes like “soda is satan” and telling me how eggs are disgusting because they are chicken placenta. Thats like saying mushrooms are disgusting because they are a fungus. Personally I find eating many of the brand-name “meat substiture” foods, full of chemicals and god-knows-what a lot more disgusting than eating free-range eggs.
The authors of Skinny Bitch are moralising without providing any relevant or useful information. They play back the PETA line like a broken record, with no analysis or independant thought. The whole thing is then sprinkled through with “you suck you stupid fat cow” type phrases.
People who chose to become vegans do so out of their own sense of ethics and belief. Books like this do nothing for their cause, instead making it look extremist, and putting it in the same “selective eating” category as anorexia.
— RowThe authors came out of the modeling industry (which is all about constricting and subjugating women through our beauty aspirations), so “Skinny Bitch”’s auto-oppressive tone sucks but shouldn’t surprise. Somebody ought to discuss the connection between beauty ideals and the ideas about physico-moral purity inherent in veganism (ideas which, as PETA and some people in this comment thread do, often operate at women’s expense).
— MJohn and Judy,
You two certainly are doing a smashingly thorough job of making up a whole lot about each other’s motives and agendas from a whole lot of nothing but a couple of blog posts. Quite entertaining, really, but disappointingly immature, in the end.
Cheerio!
-George
— George