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Questions About Marianne Williamson’s Weight Loss Advice
I read ‘A Course for Weight Loss.’ I’m fat. And I have questions for the presidential candidate.
Note: This piece contains descriptions of restrictive eating practices and discussion of eating disorders.
I first heard of your 2010 weight loss book, A Course in Weight Loss, after seeing it covered in the press. The claims made about the book seemed sensationalized. Surely, no one could believe such staggeringly cruel or judgmental things about people who look like me — certainly not someone who had built a platform on self-purported love, acceptance, and spirituality. I wanted to find out for myself, so I read your book.
When I opened the book, I expected to find shadows of what I’d heard reported — glimmers that had been taken out of a more reasonable context. I expected to be pleasantly surprised by something grounded and compassionate. Instead, I was shocked to find that A Course in Weight Loss was full of deep judgments about fat people and advice that read like an anorexia how-to guide.
Like 70% of Americans, Ms. Williamson, I am fat. And I have so many questions for you.
Who was the audience you envisioned for this book? Did you anticipate speaking to people who saw themselves as…
