An attentive critique of both mass-media and philosophical
ideologies gets trapped somewhere between the personal and the
theoretical. Bordo intermittently lives up to her claim to limn a
"hidden" life of images - as when she pursues the underlying
meanings attached to slenderness in the recent wave of ultra-skinny
models, or in her analyses of the representation of sexual
harassment and of the continuing sub rosa ghettoization of feminism
within "advanced" postmodern scholarship. Often, though, as when
Bordo (Philosophy/Univ. of Kentucky; Unbearable Weight: Feminism,
Western Culture, and the Body, 1993) turns to cosmetic surgery or
the O.J. Simpson case, she is content with more obvious
interpretations, wordily entangled in a suffocating self-narration.
The cultural landscape Bordo paints consists largely of the world
of produced images in the background and her own reactions in the
foreground, and although she pays lip service to the intervening
complexity of actual lives and social forces, it has no substantial
presence in the book. Thus, a ubiquitous advertising campaign like
"Just Do It" can be simply read as an encompassing "ideology"
embraced by contemporary society - exaggerating its real importance
and thereby, perhaps, that of criticism like her own. It becomes
positively depressing to realize that it's likely, judging by an
excruciating essay on the role of theory in her work, that she is
in fact among the academic cultural critics who are relatively
dedicated to the connection of their work to the real world. A
final chapter expanding on the personal references that inflect the
whole book's tone, a collective memoir by Bordo and her sisters, is
strangled at birth by the mandated topics of "bodies, place and
space." As ripe for scrutiny as the avalanche of images around us
is, it seems that the prolific academic cultural-studies industry
is capable of blowing up nearly as much snow as it clears away.
(Kirkus Reviews)
Considering everything from Nike ads, emaciated models, and
surgically altered breasts to the culture wars and the O.J. Simpson
trial, Susan Bordo deciphers the hidden life of cultural images and
the impact they have on our lives. She builds on the provocative
themes introduced in her acclaimed work "Unbearable Weight" - which
explores the social and political underpinnings of women's
obsession with bodily image - to offer a singularly readable and
perceptive interpretation of our image-saturated culture. As it
becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish between appearance
and reality, she argues, we need to rehabilitate the notion that
not all versions of reality are equally trustworthy. Bordo writes
with deep compassion, unnerving honesty, and bracing intelligence.
Looking to the body and bodily practices as a concrete arena where
cultural fantasies and anxieties are played out, she examines the
mystique and the reality of empowerment through cosmetic surgery.
Her brilliant discussion of sexual harassment reflects on the
Clarence Thomas/Anita Hill controversy as well as the film
Disclosure. She suggests that sexuality, although one of the
mediums of harassment, is not its essence, and she calls for the
recasting of harassers as bullies rather than sex fiends. Bordo
also challenges the continuing marginalization of feminist thought,
in particular the failure to read feminist work as cultural
criticism. Finally, in a powerful and moving essay called 'Missing
Kitchens' - written in collaboration with her two sisters - Bordo
explores notions of bodies, place, and space through a recreation
of the topographies of her childhood. Throughout these essays,
Bordo avoids dogma and easy caricature. Consistently, and on many
levels, she demonstrates the profound relationship between our
lives and our theories, our feelings and our thoughts.
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