Review: An Autoethnography of Fitting In: On Spinsterhood, Fatness, and Backpacker Tourism, by Phiona Stanley

Book Review| October 01 2023 Review: An Autoethnography of Fitting In: On Spinsterhood, Fatness, and Backpacker Tourism, by Phiona Stanley Phiona Stanley, An Autoethnography of Fitting In: On Spinsterhood, Fatness, and Backpacker Tourism. New York: Routledge, 2023. 238 pp. $52.95 (paperback, ISBN 9781032070988), $39.71 (eBook, ISBN 9781003205357) Brian Peterson Brian Peterson Kansas State University brianpeterson@ksu.edu Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar brianpeterson@ksu.edu Journal of Autoethnography (2023) 4 (4): 597–600. https://doi.org/10.1525/joae.2023.4.4.597 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Brian Peterson; Review: An Autoethnography of Fitting In: On Spinsterhood, Fatness, and Backpacker Tourism, by Phiona Stanley. Journal of Autoethnography 1 October 2023; 4 (4): 597–600. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/joae.2023.4.4.597 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentJournal of Autoethnography Search In An Autoethnography of Fitting In: On Spinsterhood, Fatness, and Backpacker Tourism, Phiona Stanley critically reflects on her international travels during her twenties and thirties in which she navigated social norms and expectations. From a young age, Stanley was bullied, and that resulted in her adopting coping mechanisms to live up to other people’s approval. However, these coping mechanisms did not withstand the test of time, and as she matured out of young adulthood these mechanisms caused more unhappiness than happiness. Stanley ultimately realized that although many people are more privileged because of easily fitting into social norms, her happiness is easier to achieve than conforming to other people’s approval. This story is a transformative journey through experiencing shame and coping with it, to excessive self-control, to exchanges for approval that compromised personal values, to finally accepting oneself as a constantly changing being who carries herself confidently from one... You do not currently have access to this content.