Anti-Diet by Christy Harrison

"[Naomi] Wolf explains that [applying pressure on women to become thinner] serves both to distract women from their growing political power and to assuage the fears of people who don't want the old patriarchal system to change--because if women are busy trying to shrink themselves, they won't have the time or energy to shake things up" (33).

In this day and age, diet culture is running rampant. I constantly hear banter such as "I need to go on a diet" or "I can't eat that! I'll get fat" at school. With the recent release of Game Changers, the Netflix documentary that strongly encourages a plant-based diet, I have heard and witnessed even more restrictions sneaking into many of my friends' diets.

Chrissy Harrison deconstructs the allure of dieting and illustrates the history of diet culture and how it is based on profit and oppressing certain groups, especially women. This book is a valuable read for not only those who have gone or thought about going on a diet, but for everyone in order to educate ourselves on the motivations behind diet culture so we can better protect ourselves and our loved ones from what Harrison calls the "Life Thief." This should be a required reading for health classes.