Paperback Edition
IBSN: 9781936932313
Publication Date: 08-14-2018

Growing up as a fat girl, Virgie Tovar believed that her body was something to be fixed. But after two decades of dieting and constant guilt, she was over it—and gave herself the freedom to trust her own body again. Ever since, she’s been helping others to do the same.

Tovar is hungry for a world where bodies are valued equally, food is free from moral judgment, and you can jiggle through life with respect. In concise and candid language, she delves into unlearning fatphobia, dismantling sexist notions of fashion, and rejecting diet culture’s greatest lie: that fat people need to wait before beginning their best lives.

“Searing excoriation of a diet culture that has forced generations of fat people to focus their anger at their own bodies, rather than at a society that refuses to let them live freely and happily at any size.” —Vogue

“Combines candid essays with cultural criticism that will embolden fat people to simply live.” —Bitch Magazine

"Eye-opening. . . . This short, accessible book packs a powerful message that will appeal to anyone eager to uncover and dispel cultural myths about beauty." —Publishers Weekly

"A manifesto for fat rights and freedom from the tyranny of diet, exercise, and body-image conformity." —Kirkus Reviews

"There is a lot of anger here, but there is also a lot of inspiration, and Tovar’s call to action for fat women to embrace their bodies as is will resonate.” —Booklist

"A must-read." —w24

“Long-time body positive writer, speaker, and activist Virgie Tovar is gifting brown round girls the book we’ve been hungry for.” —Mitú

“She excels at critiquing diet culture; describing how it matches the American narrative of failure and success as personal endeavors and how dieting and fatphobia are ideologies that rely upon inducing inferiority. . . . Combining aspects of feminism and women's health, Tovar's impassioned call to action challenges Western beauty norms and how women (and girls) develop self-esteem.” —Library Journal

“Written with fierce urgency, Tovar’s book boldly dismantles our culture’s grip on our bodies and scrutinizes how fatness and deviations from cultural beauty standards are unjustly vilified.” —Signature

“In this bold new book, Tovar eviscerates diet culture, proclaims the joyous possibilities of fatness, and shows us that liberation is possible.” —Sarai Walker, author of Dietland

“Lucid, joyous, mad as hell, and making a whole lot of sense.” —Joanna Walsh, author of Worlds from the World’s End

“Tovar’s words provide crucial guidance, clarity, and support for all those who champion universal body liberation.” —Jessamyn Stanley, author of Every Body Yoga

“Fierce, passionate, and poignant, You Have the Right to Remain Fat will inspire you and ignite the revolution.”—Linda Bacon, author of Health at Every Size

“This book feels like spending a margarita-soaked day at the beach with your smartest friend. Virgie Tovar shares juicy secrets and makes revolutionary ideas viscerally accessible. You’ll be left enlightened, inspired, happier, and possibly angrier than when you started.” —Joy Nash, actress

“Tovar is a vital voice in contemporary activism, media, and feminism. The joy she takes in her own body and life, combined with the righteous anger she expresses at an oppressive world is a truly radical act. She is deeply thoughtful, but does not equivocate. She confronts bigotry, but does not engage with bullshit.” —Kelsey Miller, author of Big Girl

“A fantastic book that is witty, warm, and wise.” —Charlotte Cooper, author of Fat Activism: A Radical Social Movement

“Virgie Tovar does the thing we need to see more of in political writing: she shares every bit of her humanity. Her clear descriptions of anti-fat bias and the social construction that is ‘diet culture’ make it difficult to disagree with her main point: you are not the problem, society is the problem. The world desperately needs to be told this truth.” —Isabel Foxen Duke, creator of StopFightingFood.com  

Interested in reading this book with a group? Download group discussion questions for You Have the Right to Remain Fat here!