Ken Mayer is a large-size fashion photographer and freelance writer.
"Mayer is in line with writers like Naomi Wolf (Beauty Myth, LJ
4/1/91) who severely criticize our society's standards of feminine
beauty. He focuses on body size or weight, arguing that big is not
only beautiful but also healthy and takes to task the fashion and
diet industries and physicians for encouraging women literally to
harm themselves in order to be thin. The early chapters take the
form of a personal journal about Mayer's coming of age and
attraction to big women. Later chapters critique society's values
in general to show that our obsession with body shape is just
another flawed value. Mayer is correct that big is beautiful, but
he loses some credibility when he argues that only big is
beautiful. Still, any big woman who needs encouragement to accept
herself will find it here, and other readers may be sensitized to
the issue."-- "Library Journal"
There have been books and magazine articles asserting that our
society is dangerously obsessed with a single standard of female
beauty, namely that of the thin body. Mayer's book stands out
because it is written by a man and is a paean to what he regards as
real beauty; strong, large women (preferably well over 200 pounds).
Expressing heartfelt pain over tortures that overweight women
endure (many were prescribed diet pills by alarmed doctors in their
early teens), the book will offer comfort to any woman who falls
outside the waif-like ideal. Mayer, a "large-size" fashion
photographer and freelance writer, rallies facts and figures that
verify that "overweight" women are not unhealthy and promotes the
sensible idea that if a woman feels healthy, she probably is. With
its arresting title and cover (a beautiful, 200 plus-pound woman,
obviously pleased with herself and enjoying life), this book will
have wide appeal. Photos.-- "Publisher's Weekly"
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