If one looks past the nasty, misogynistic tone of Skinny Bitch, it’s easy to find a positive theme.  The love and protection of animals is paramount to their message.  Advocacy of a vegan lifestyle is packaged in a sassy, humorous manner.

By the end of the book they confess that they really don’t care if you lose weight; just please don’t eat the animals… or anything remotely connected with animals, such as cheese or eggs.  

A vegan lifestyle can be healthy if one takes special care to supplement missing nutrition, like B vitamins.  However, it’s incredibly restrictive nature makes it impossible for most mortals to stick to.  What, no more ice cream?????? 

Menus of less than 1,000 calories a day defy the definition of starvation. To channel resultant food obsessions, you are given mantras such as, "Every day in every way, [your] ass is getting smaller."  Ha, ha, ick, ick.

Most humor comes packaged in hatred and condescension, such as “don’t be a fat pig anymore,” or “if you eat crap, you are crap,” or "you need to exercise, you lazy shit.”  After the chuckle, these messages are likely to reinforce the poor self esteem so many of us harbor, because we don’t mirror the thin cultural ideal.  They contribute to fat phobia and size discrimination.

These women create the opposite of Goddess Queen elevation.  Whereas Kelly Sullivan Walden devotes her life to love – toward herself and others, these authors make self-love conditional on vegan eating and thin bodies, and offer plenty of abusive thoughts in case you need some spares.

I am reminded of a quote by the producer, Marty Richards, (Chicago, La Cage Aux Folle, etc.).  When praising my book, he said, “It’s always nice to be encouraged to love our bodies, whatever shape we’re in.  Love always works.  And hate never does.”

I whole-heartedly agree.

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Dr. Abby Aronowitz completed work at Columbia University and holds two master’s degrees and a Ph.D. She has been a consultant to Weight Watchers International, eDiets.com and is featured on WebMD.com. She is a member of the American Psychological Association and Mensa. Information about her book, Your Final Diet can be found at www.yourfinaldiet.com.  Her advice column, “Dear Dr. Abby” can be found in eDiets.com “Worst Food” newsletter.
 
For questions for Dr. Abby or to comment on this article, you may e-mail her at:  AskDrAbby@aol.com.