Summary of Cathy O'Neil's The Shame Machine

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 We all experience shame, and it is a silent, yet extremely destructive, force that affects everyone. It is the sense of worthlessness that comes from being embarrassed, and it can be triggered by someone else’s criticism of you.

#2 The journey that opened my eyes to the insidious dominance of shame in our lives began when I was a pudgy girl living with her two overweight parents in a Boston suburb in the 1980s. I was always big for my age, and I suffered from the humiliation of being weighed every year in gym class.

#3 I was a young nerd who loved math, and I used that skill to help me lose weight. I ditched regular meals and ate multiple packages of hundred-calorie fruit snacks, as those made counting calories even easier. I was elated and in control of my body for the first time in my life.

#4 I spent my youth trying every diet there was, and none of them worked. I was always ashamed of my weight, and I allowed myself to become chronically uncomfortable and self-punishing as a result.

© 2022 IRB Media (Ebook): 9781669389538

Release date

Ebook: 21 April 2022