She's Come Undone

Content Warning: This section contains descriptions of child sexual abuse, domestic violence, suicidal ideation, sizeism, and self-harm. The source material also contains sizeist slurs, which are reproduced in this guide only in quotations. 

She’s Come Undone chronicles the life of Dolores Price as she experiences significant trauma during childhood and attempts to heal. Throughout much of the book, Dolores is overweight and experiences stigma regarding her size, which she internalizes, resulting in self-hatred as well as suicidal ideation and self-harm.

Weight stigma and sizeism—discrimination or bias based upon this stigma—like that Dolores experiences remain prevalent. According to psychologist Rebecca Puhl, “Sizeism is one of the most deeply entrenched stigmas in today’s society, partly because of sociocultural ideals tying thinness to core American values such as hard work and individualism” (Abrams, Zara, “The Burden of Weight Stigma,” Monitor on Psychology, vol. 53, no. 2, 2022). Numerous studies highlight the effects of weight stigma, which negatively impacts both physical health outcomes and mental health. For instance, researchers found in a 2021 study that people who experience weight stigma are more likely to engage in several behaviors that negatively impact health, including disordered eating and excessive alcohol use, and they are also more likely to experience sleep disturbances (Lee, Kristen M.