Kim Chernin (1940–2020)

Fascinating look at why women are obsessed with losing weight...the origins of world hatred of women's bodies. It is a frightening book that hits home to any woman who diets for whatever reason she might give. I bought this book in 1982 and it is filled with passages underlined. I can't remember how many times I have reread it but here we are in 2016 and nothing has changed for women and the cult of the boyish figure. It is so sad and illuminating and should be taught in modified form to children in early grades to try to change how people learn to view the female form in unhealthy ways.… (mais)

When this book was first written, eating disorders such as Anorexia Nervosa were assumed to only strike white upper and middle class women and girls. In recent times, more men and people of different racial and socioeconomic backgrounds have come forward with eating disorders. Whether this is because there are more widespread cases then at the time of this book's publication or there was simply a lack of proper diagnosis in the past is up for debate. Modern studies of eating disorders also reject the idea that family life and the cultural preoccupation with slimness is the major factor causing eating disorders - though these things are still up for debate in some circles.
The reason I bring up these differences in viewing eating disorders is to excuse the fallacies that I feel this book bases it's premise on. It takes a feminist, sociological, psychodynamic view of eating disorders, which is old fashioned at best and just plain wrong at worst. Maybe I shouldn't say "wrong;" much like Freud's theories, the assumptions in this book are not even wrong because they are not falsifiable - they are philosophy, at their heart.
It was very hard for me to get through this book, even though it was well written and thought provoking, because I could not get past it's assumptions, knowing what I know about eating disorders in 2010. It is, to me, a historical and philosophical exploration and not particularly useful to sufferers or clinicians in the field of eating disorders. If the reader would like to know what the prevailing attitudes concerning eating disorders were in feminist circles in the 70's and early 80's, this book may be useful. If the reader is looking for any useful research or even case studies, look elsewhere.… (mais)