In Clothes Called Fat review
Massive trigger warning! This comic book does talk about weight loss, bullying, and disordered eating, we will talk about that as we go along. Also, a huge spoiler warning. Nudity and sex are also prevalent in the book, but it’s not nasty or distasteful.
What is the book about? Who is it made by?
“In Clothes Called Fat” is a Josei manga written by Moyoco Anno that centers a woman named “Noko”. Moyoco Anno, born March 26th, 1971, in Tokyo. Moyoco Anno is a mangaka and fashion writer, she is known for her children’s book called “Sugar Sugar Rune” won the Kodansha award for children in 2005. What pulled me into its premise is witches. She is married to the man who created Neon Genesis Evangelion and has been married to him ever since 2002. My copy (which uses the cover mentioned) was copyrighted in 2002, which feels very fitting with how women were treated within that time period.
Noko is a pretty plus-sized woman who gets unwanted comments from her more societally attractive female peers in her workplace. She is an office woman, who gets along better with women than men. As a fat woman, I already felt a kinship to her, then I read that she is an emotional eater. I was also an emotional eater, due to bullying, unwanted comments from family, and romantic rejection. After seeing something she feels that she shouldn’t have, she is very suspicious about her boyfriend cheating on her with one of her coworkers. Feeling unhappy about herself, she offers herself up to an older guy who wants to have sex with her, due to her being fat. She mentions that she wants to slim down, so he leaves her 890,000 yen. 890,000 yen is a 5,869.65 in US dollars. Her boyfriend, named Saito, seems to care about how he looks on the outside, as he wants to be seen as the “good guy”. He is dating her, and has been ever since high school, because he sees her as “weak”. I too have dated an attractive dude and had thoughts about him and I being together, as it was a time when I was finding my confidence after high school.
A guy showing me affection felt strange. As when I do express my experiences with being romantic with men… a lot of men want to chime in and either insult me for my weight or try and hook up. I saw a video of a tiktok compilation of women talking about the horrible things that guys have done when they didn’t find those women attractive. One of the women stated that a guy, kind of like our main character’s boyfriend, puts up a front in front of his friends by shaming her body then he messages her for some of her personal time. As Saito had never brought her to meet his friends and coworkers. Shortly after, Noko then contacts a weight loss clinic.
Later on, we do find out that he was cheating on her with the aforementioned coworker, named Mayumi Tachibana. He expresses shame for cheating on Noko, but has conflicting thoughts about dating her, as Noko has the sentiments from Mayumi echoing in her head. Mayumi is a very sadistic character and tends to pick on those she sees as unattractive, especially other women. When Noko loses weight, Mayumi treats another coworker named “Tabata” similarly. As she does state that she hates fat people and wants to abuse them.
Pre-visible weight loss, Noko meets up with a friend from high school. The two begin to catch up, talk about their lives. Noko says that she was compared to her sister throughout her life. I felt an experience similar to that. I do understand what it is like to compare my appearance to others, especially those closely related to me. I’ve tried to lose weight to get a guy to notice me. It failed and made me feel even shittier. In the words of Allison Iraheta (Ih-ra-hee-ta) in her song “Scars”, “Do you know how hard I’ve tried to become what you want me to be?”.
When we see Noko at the weight loss clinic during her second visit, the woman she met the first time begins to chide her for not losing any weight. As women due tend to judge other women based on their appearances, like men do.
Side tangent here but, I remember when I was a kid, there was an episode of ICarly where Spencer had to date an “unattractive” girl to save a restaurant they really liked. They played up how gross she was and looks obviously played a massive factor. My grandma made some hurtfully benevolent comparisons to me and the girl. Boys would also go after my cousin on my mom’s side, instead of me. I secretly resented her. Once puberty hit, I saw that I started to gain weight. I wanted to go on a diet to look like a PlayBoy or Victoria’s Secret model, let alone the girls I was watching on TV. In high school, I had plenty of crushes. One time I was going back to my second period from the bathroom, and I felt invisible compared to the two other girls, as his gaze met theirs not mine. Their hearts fluttered, mine shattered.
Back to the book, Tabata, who had noticed Noko had lost a ton of weight, has a strong disdain for Mayumi, as she saw Mayumi getting at a member on her posse. Mayumi had planned for Noko to get taken down a peg at her job, leading Noko to work for a boss who is very cross, rude, and shallow when he sees her. Her previous boss was also garbage. At some point, Saito comes home with burn scars on him. The scars come from Mayumi using him as a seat, yes… a seat. Noko sees those scars while they’re having sex, and he gets hesitant after she mentions it, saying things like “Don’t touch them!” and cutting the lovemaking session short.
Noko visits the clinic again, and the lady points out that she had lost -1.75 lbs. She tells her to keep it up and she’d lose more weight. As previously mentioned, Tabata had pointed that she had lost weight, Noko thinks “by that vomiting became a habit” whilst telling her she’s on a diet.
We then see Noko in a department store. The female assistant helping her, points out that since she is so thin, one of the fabrics would look good on her. She leaves the store thinking about how the employee didn’t chastise her for her weight. When she enters a hair salon, she starts to think about how she was treated by certain members of society, as she thinks “I’m a “regular” person. Yes… I don’t have to be afraid anymore. The fat on my insides are gone. I wouldn’t mind never eating again. If this is who I can be, then I don’t want to eat.”
She then sees her ex-boyfriend. People started to acknowledge her as his girlfriend, meanwhile he acts like he doesn’t know her. She calls out to him, saying “Saito… It’s Me!” and “It’s Noko!” The old man named “Mr. Fujimoto” pulls up and tells her to enter his car. The two then enter a hotel room. He quotes a statement that she said earlier about losing weight. Noko apologized saying that she couldn’t be happy. He then points out that she is so frail, making some points about her happiness and beauty. He then tells her to “get fat again” with a striking look in his eye, similar to her ex- boyfriend’s. She runs away from the situation, crying and thinking that she has to lose weight.
Noko heads to her job, wondering if her weight loss was a big deal. Mayumi then points out that her face is different. That her face creeps her out. Making her erratic at the sight. Meanwhile, some of the male coworkers worry about Mayumi and Tabata, questioning if Tabata is jealous. Mayumi then tries to blackmail Noko and Tabata by making a bankbook of the company’s money, with their names on it as a joint account. Turns out Tabata recorded the whole thing. Later on, Mayumi gets arrested.
Noko is then seen working at a cafe, where she sees the woman from the center.
What is my opinion on this book? What did it get right and wrong?
I think the book tackled body image very well, however due to a fellow reader on Goodreads review. I decided to expand my knowledge of body image issues, eating disorders, and many other topics. The reviewer pointed out that the character’s weight loss is very inaccurate. It was my experience with the character that made me like this book. I personally rate it a 4.5/5 stars. This is the section where I talk more about eating disorders!!!
What is an eating disorder? According to Wikipedia, eating disorders are mental disorders that are marked out by abnormal eating patterns that can affect the overall health of a person. Eating disorders are varied, as the main character may have bulimia. Anorexia and bulimia do tend to be more explored in media. I want to bring attention to almost all eating disorders, like ARFID, Binge-eating disorders, and purging. It hurt me to read this book, but I loved it. I also want to talk about guys who date fat women overall.
1. Anorexia
Anorexia is one of the most well-known eating disorders. According to healthline, it affects women more than men and develops during adolescence. People with anorexia are very negatively affected by body image, even if they’re severely underweight. They monitor their weight, are avoidant of certain food, and restrict their calories grievously. Despite weight should not be the massive focus when diagnosing a person with anorexia, as atypical anorexia does exist. Symptoms include:
Massively restricted eating patterns
Intense fear of gaining weight, continuous behaviors to not gain weight.
Unwilling to maintain healthy weight, pursuing thinness.
Heavy influence on weight
Distorted body image, despite being underweight.
Sources:
Wikipedia (Moyoco Anno, In Clothes Called Fat, eating disorders)
“We need to talk about Ozempic” by Elle Literacy