Whether they are rich or poor, liberal or conservative, religious
or atheist, thriving or stagnant, most American women have one
thing in common--they want to be thin--or thinner. And they are
willing to go to extraordinary lengths to get that way, even to the
point of starving themselves. Why are America's women so
preoccupied with weight? Is there more to this preoccupation than
weight alone? What has caused record numbers of young women--even
before they reach their teenage years--to suffer from weight
obsession, poor body image, and disordered eating? Why are some
young women able to resist cultural pressures to be thin when
others are not? Are there factors within American society that have
fueled current outbreaks of anorexia and bulimia? The Cult of
Thinness, Second Edition--a revised and expanded version of
Sharlene Nagy Hesse-Biber's award-winning book, Am I Thin Enough
Yet? (OUP, 1996)--answers these questions and more.
Hesse-Biber goes beyond traditional psychological explanations of
eating disorders to level a powerful indictment against the social,
political, and economic pressures women face in a weight-obsessed
society--a society that is, ironically, becoming increasingly more
fat while worshipping a progressively more thin ideal. She examines
the profit motives of corporate America that promote this paradox.
Moreover, a new chapter on preteens, masculinity, ethnicity, gay
and lesbian body image, and the globalization of body image issues
align a refined cultural study of body image with the trends found
in current research studies, demographic data, and popular
culture.
Using the metaphor of a cult, Hesse-Biber conveys the intense,
day-to-day involvement thatthe pursuit of thinness demands.
Examining the testimonies of young women concerning the practice of
body rituals, she observes the extent to which these women
sacrifice their bodies and minds to the pursuit of the
ultra-slender ideal. She looks at pressures coming from their
families and friends that perpetuate their cult-like practices and
evaluates a range of therapies and personal and collective actions
available to help women overcome their weight obsessions and eating
problems.
Hesse-Biber provides new frameworks for envisioning femininity and
personal power, overcoming body insecurity, strengthening the inner
self, and changing the cultural environment itself. Along the way,
the reader is provided with important self-help tips to tackle the
growing number of body image issues young women and new recruits to
the "Cult of Thinness" continue to encounter.
There are alternatives to the Cult of Thinness and this book
provides a strong antidote.
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