Reviewed by wyvernfriend on
Disturbing in many ways it's an indictment in how divorced from reality our perception of fat and body image has become.
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 26 January, 2007: Finished reading
- 26 January, 2007: Reviewed
Fasting Girls
by Joan Jacobs Brumberg
An acclaimed classic from the award-winning author of The Body Project presents a history of women's food-refusal dating back as far as the sixteenth century, providing compassion to victims and their families.
Here is a tableau of female self-denial: medieval martyrs who used starvation to demonstrate religious devotion, "wonders of science" whose families capitalized on their ability to survive on flower petals and air, silent screen stars whose strict "slimming" regimens inspired a generation. Here, too, is a fascinating look at how the cultural ramifications of the Industrial Revolution produced a disorder that continues to render privileged young women helpless. Incisive, compassionate, illuminating, Fasting Girls offers real understanding to victims and their families, clinicians, and all women who are interested in the origins and future of this complex, modern and characteristically female disease.
Disturbing in many ways it's an indictment in how divorced from reality our perception of fat and body image has become.