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Am I Thin Enough Yet?: The Cult of Thinness and the Commercialization of Identity
Whether they are rich or poor, tall or short, liberal or conservative, most young American women have one thing in common--they want to be thin. 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? What has caused record numbers of young women--even before they reach their teenage years--to suffer from anorexia and bulimia? In Am I Thin Enough Yet?, Sharlene Hesse-Biber answers these questions and more, as she 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.
Packed with first-hand, intimate portraits of young women from a wide variety of backgrounds, and drawing on historical accounts and current material culled from both popular and scholarly sources, Am I Thin Enough Yet? offers a provocative new way of understanding why women feel the way they do about their minds and bodies. Specifically, Hesse-Biber highlights the various ways in which American families, schools, popular culture, and the health and fitness industry all undermine young women's self-confidence as they inculcate the notions that thinness is beauty and that a woman's body is more important than her mind. The author builds her case in part by letting her subjects tell their own story, revealing in their own words how current standards of femininity lead many women to engage in eating habits that are not only self-destructive, but often akin to the obsessions and ritualistic behaviors found among members of cults. For instance, we meet Delia, a bulimic college senior who makes the startling admission that "my final affirmation of myself is how many guys look at me when I go into a bar." We even learn of six-year-olds like Lauren, already preoccupied with her weight, who considers herself "a real clod" in ballet class because she is not as thin as her peers. We are introduced to women (and men) from different cultures who themselves have acquired eating disorders in pursuit of the American standard of physical perfection. And we learn of the often tragic consequences of this obsession with thinness, as in the case of Janet, who underwent surgery to reduce her weight only to suffer from chronic illness and pain as a result. The book concludes with Hesse-Biber's prescriptions on how women can overcome their low self-image through therapy, spiritualism, and grass-root efforts to empower themselves against a society obsessed with beauty and thinness.
Am I Thin Enough Yet? brings into sharp focus the multitude of societal and psychological forces that compel American women to pursue the ideal of thinness at any cost. It will remain a benchmark work on the subject for many years to come.
Packed with first-hand, intimate portraits of young women from a wide variety of backgrounds, and drawing on historical accounts and current material culled from both popular and scholarly sources, Am I Thin Enough Yet? offers a provocative new way of understanding why women feel the way they do about their minds and bodies. Specifically, Hesse-Biber highlights the various ways in which American families, schools, popular culture, and the health and fitness industry all undermine young women's self-confidence as they inculcate the notions that thinness is beauty and that a woman's body is more important than her mind. The author builds her case in part by letting her subjects tell their own story, revealing in their own words how current standards of femininity lead many women to engage in eating habits that are not only self-destructive, but often akin to the obsessions and ritualistic behaviors found among members of cults. For instance, we meet Delia, a bulimic college senior who makes the startling admission that "my final affirmation of myself is how many guys look at me when I go into a bar." We even learn of six-year-olds like Lauren, already preoccupied with her weight, who considers herself "a real clod" in ballet class because she is not as thin as her peers. We are introduced to women (and men) from different cultures who themselves have acquired eating disorders in pursuit of the American standard of physical perfection. And we learn of the often tragic consequences of this obsession with thinness, as in the case of Janet, who underwent surgery to reduce her weight only to suffer from chronic illness and pain as a result. The book concludes with Hesse-Biber's prescriptions on how women can overcome their low self-image through therapy, spiritualism, and grass-root efforts to empower themselves against a society obsessed with beauty and thinness.
Am I Thin Enough Yet? brings into sharp focus the multitude of societal and psychological forces that compel American women to pursue the ideal of thinness at any cost. It will remain a benchmark work on the subject for many years to come.
208 pages, Paperback
First published October 30, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
July 29, 2008
Why I liked it in one sentence: The Cult of Thinness shifts the focus of disordered eating from the individual or family unit to the dominant culture we live in- - steeped in a false mind/body dichotomy, rampant capitalism, and impossible/ destructive gender ideals.
Why it didn't get 5 stars: Didn't really tell me anything I didn't already know, and most of the author's research focused on white middle class undergrads (surprise, surprise), so was somewhat limited in scope.
Bottom line: Worth reading, but don't buy it--pick it up from your library.
Caveat: Just reading this stirred up some of my old feelings of body-anxiety. If you are in recovery from an eating or body-image disorder, I'd recommend making sure you are in a pretty good place with all that before picking up this book.
Why it didn't get 5 stars: Didn't really tell me anything I didn't already know, and most of the author's research focused on white middle class undergrads (surprise, surprise), so was somewhat limited in scope.
Bottom line: Worth reading, but don't buy it--pick it up from your library.
Caveat: Just reading this stirred up some of my old feelings of body-anxiety. If you are in recovery from an eating or body-image disorder, I'd recommend making sure you are in a pretty good place with all that before picking up this book.
November 14, 2015
It was an okay book. I discovered it in a humanities class when it was on the reading list. I took it out from the library to read again.
It affected me on a personal level. So many things in the book I could relate to.
I liked this book because it wasn't just about eating disorders; it was about the context surrounding the drive to be thin, and proposed the notion of a culture, or a "cult of thinness".
I wished the book did more. Like someone said before, there was nothing in the book that I didn't really know before. But the bigger question I wished was answered was, "Why?" Why are girls dying to be thin, even they know they're hurting themselves, even though they know about the social-historical context surrounding women's bodies. Why do they keep playing into it? Why do I keep playing into it?
My Review of the book two years later:
The author has done extensive research, and that is commendable. Statements are supported by statistics and research studies and interviews, and references are really thorough at the end of each chapter.
So I applaud Hesse-Biber's tireless research that went into this book.
This is the second time I've read the book. I was both shocked and apathetic. The sheer amount of statistics made me apathetic. It was like, after a while I got so bored of reading the same sort of thing reiterated over and over again.
I was shocked that there are teachers out there who truly believe that chubby girls are stupid. But when I thought about it again, it suddenly twigged. When I was a girl in primary school, teachers riffed off of my weight. Of course students did it, but you kind of expected that when you were chubby. Kids can be cruel. But when teachers did it, it had more of an impact.
In grade 11 Physics, my friend was feeling bad about her weight (we had to use our own weights in the experimental calculations). Anyhow, my physics teacher, who was really slender, tall, svelte, told my friend not to feel bad, because she had a lot of "bulk", and she tried to put a positive spin on it. That she would want someone with a lot of "bulk" on her volleyball team. This was a teacher that my friend highly respected.
I was 16 then, and my teacher was God, and I never thought to question this interaction until years later. How could she publicly comment on a teenage girl's weight/body type?
She didn't do it to be mean. She honestly though there was nothing wrong with what she said.
The Culture of Thinness is insidious. It permeates our culture, ourselves, entirely.
It explains why America is obsessed with a certain body type, why culturally-induced eating disorders emerge, why America's obesity epidemic is surging, why fad diets are so popular, and the entire industry that is built on yo-yo dieting.
It creates this:
http://mikensulley.tumblr.com/post/12...
It creates a circle where those who fit the ideal body type get to stay inside the circle, and everyone else is cast outside. The entire body industry (fad diets, weight loss supplements, magazines, new exercise equipment, good foods vs. bad foods), is based on the attempts for those outside the circle to find their way back in. And most of them can't, thus explaining yo-yo dieting.
If Hesse-Biber ever decides to write a third edition, I hope she will expand the chapter on lesbians/gays, straight men, and racial minorities. Hesse-Biber is, herself, from a position of privilege. I would like to see her expand the chapter by conducting extensive interviews with a large sample size of black women, for example. I fear that many of the things she has said are common assumptions. For example, I've read that women of colour suffer from body image issues perhaps even more than white women, due to the social variables of race and maybe economic class.
This book is excellent from the viewpoint of white women, but I would like to see more diverse representation in terms of the research especially.
In 2013, I gave this book 3 stars. In 2015, I am giving this book 4 stars. This book is fantastic, but there is so much work to be done, in terms of exploring the culture of (whiteness) and thinness.
It affected me on a personal level. So many things in the book I could relate to.
I liked this book because it wasn't just about eating disorders; it was about the context surrounding the drive to be thin, and proposed the notion of a culture, or a "cult of thinness".
I wished the book did more. Like someone said before, there was nothing in the book that I didn't really know before. But the bigger question I wished was answered was, "Why?" Why are girls dying to be thin, even they know they're hurting themselves, even though they know about the social-historical context surrounding women's bodies. Why do they keep playing into it? Why do I keep playing into it?
My Review of the book two years later:
The author has done extensive research, and that is commendable. Statements are supported by statistics and research studies and interviews, and references are really thorough at the end of each chapter.
So I applaud Hesse-Biber's tireless research that went into this book.
This is the second time I've read the book. I was both shocked and apathetic. The sheer amount of statistics made me apathetic. It was like, after a while I got so bored of reading the same sort of thing reiterated over and over again.
I was shocked that there are teachers out there who truly believe that chubby girls are stupid. But when I thought about it again, it suddenly twigged. When I was a girl in primary school, teachers riffed off of my weight. Of course students did it, but you kind of expected that when you were chubby. Kids can be cruel. But when teachers did it, it had more of an impact.
In grade 11 Physics, my friend was feeling bad about her weight (we had to use our own weights in the experimental calculations). Anyhow, my physics teacher, who was really slender, tall, svelte, told my friend not to feel bad, because she had a lot of "bulk", and she tried to put a positive spin on it. That she would want someone with a lot of "bulk" on her volleyball team. This was a teacher that my friend highly respected.
I was 16 then, and my teacher was God, and I never thought to question this interaction until years later. How could she publicly comment on a teenage girl's weight/body type?
She didn't do it to be mean. She honestly though there was nothing wrong with what she said.
The Culture of Thinness is insidious. It permeates our culture, ourselves, entirely.
It explains why America is obsessed with a certain body type, why culturally-induced eating disorders emerge, why America's obesity epidemic is surging, why fad diets are so popular, and the entire industry that is built on yo-yo dieting.
It creates this:
http://mikensulley.tumblr.com/post/12...
It creates a circle where those who fit the ideal body type get to stay inside the circle, and everyone else is cast outside. The entire body industry (fad diets, weight loss supplements, magazines, new exercise equipment, good foods vs. bad foods), is based on the attempts for those outside the circle to find their way back in. And most of them can't, thus explaining yo-yo dieting.
If Hesse-Biber ever decides to write a third edition, I hope she will expand the chapter on lesbians/gays, straight men, and racial minorities. Hesse-Biber is, herself, from a position of privilege. I would like to see her expand the chapter by conducting extensive interviews with a large sample size of black women, for example. I fear that many of the things she has said are common assumptions. For example, I've read that women of colour suffer from body image issues perhaps even more than white women, due to the social variables of race and maybe economic class.
This book is excellent from the viewpoint of white women, but I would like to see more diverse representation in terms of the research especially.
In 2013, I gave this book 3 stars. In 2015, I am giving this book 4 stars. This book is fantastic, but there is so much work to be done, in terms of exploring the culture of (whiteness) and thinness.
May 25, 2019
Good introduction to eating issues and body image issues. Pretty basic and obvious info but what I did like was the focus on society and female “norms” being a large part of the problem versus simply looking at the disease model and 12 step approach. Actually highlighted some of the negatives of this model which I thought was true and relevant. Societal change is needed but seems in many ways things have become worse in some ways. Selfies, social media and celebrity obsession seem worse than ever but more gender inequality and sexual harassment issues seem better.
June 26, 2016
Admittedly, this book was well-researched and written overall in a decent manner, I just kept thinking to myself, "This is a really average book. I feel like I haven't learned anything but I keep wanting to read it." So take that as you please. I don't think it's a bad book; it was just pretty basic.
October 20, 2009
There are definitely a lot of interesting ideas to play with in this short and dense read. Questions are articulated in a way that wouldn't have occurred to me.
The mind-body dichotomy described, in which men and women are separated (implicitly) by the culture into mental faculties and physical characteristics, respectively. Its roots are traced as far back as Aristotle, who posits that women are essentially soulless and evil, and men pure and intellectual. If the soul is really just the reification of a metaphysical concept (the mind having a presence beyond the body), then it's not far fetched to suggest that secular western culture could easily adapt this idea while shedding its superstitious origins. Similarly, the Christian view positioned women as wicked, drawing men toward temptation. If one thinks in terms of the mind-body dichotomy, where men would wish to shed their bodies in favor of the purely metaphysical, unwelcome biological responses (sexual urges) would seem a hindrance to that ideal. Except that they misidentified the source as something external, as Christians often do (the fucking devil made me do it!). In the passages offered, Aristotle comes off as what would currently be regarded as an embittered nerd, elevating his own strength for abstract thought (though he was often completely off) by denigrating those he was somehow preoccupied by (love and hate both being passions). Evolutionary biologists have made the case that prejudice is closer to human instinct than tolerance or egalitarianism. Under this view, our ancestors were suspicious first of those outside their families; then outside their tribes and villages; then those from other ethnicities; other nations; other ideologies; and so on. Is there something innate that also inclines a fear of "otherness" between genders?
While a lot of interesting questions are posed, I wasn't satisfied that so much was attributed to society, without also looking at the biological tendencies around which societies and cultures are formed. For instance, the common notion that men gain status directly through their accomplishments, while women must do so through physical characteristics, and only then indirectly through their attachment to a man. It's fair to criticize the convention (though both sexes are fairly trapped in their roles), but they didn't develop in a vacuum. There was no exalted architect for this. One has consider when such things might have been natural and relevant, and realize perhaps that it's only through the development of society that they've been called into question. It is, to look at it from another angle, not practical or utilitarian to be stronger than average in a culture disconnected from the process of finding food or fighting predators. Obviously, this was not always so, and yet strength is still well-regarded in spite of its growing irrelevance (in many professions, at least). Maybe, like racism, it may not be instinctively natural to question gender ideals; but it may be consciously possible. There's also the question of the evolutionary imperative itself. Though modern society has enabled people of a broader range of genetic fitness or adaptability to live longer and more productively, there may be traits that are quantitatively healthier and more desirable from a genetic standpoint (genetic cues being read unconsciously through pheromones, facial symmetry, etc.).
Though I think the author fatuously implies a concerted effort to do this (outside of the marketing realm), she makes a solid case that the feminine ideal has been based upon the tastes of the men of a given time period; and has evolved as such. Their compliance being necessary to the indirect attainment of security/status within society. And the trend has been (literally) narrowing the ideal to mathematical traits, where beauty can be broken down to symmetry and proportions, predictably and consistently. Where nevertheless beautiful models fall below this ideal, their images are manipulated to meet it. This isn't new: the painting, "Grande Odalisque" by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres (recently referenced in a Manic Street Preachers lyric) portrayed a woman with an elongated back, to suit the artist's aesthetic ideal. What is new is the homogenization of the media, across the country and around the world. Now people are exposed to the same images, and the sameness of those images is ever increasing, while the disparity between the public and those images is also increasing (e.g. the rise of obesity in western culture). While it may be physically impossible to change one's build to match the ideal, the dominance of western culture in other countries also confronts people of entirely different ethnicities with an even more remote sense of what's attractive. This puts people in a state of "wrongness" about which they can do nothing but repent (buy shit), as with concepts like Original Sin; manipulative guilts that can never be quenched.
And, well, this is good for industry, too. While the images are the product, and there are products the images help sell, the component of insecurity is also vital to the symbiotic relationship enjoyed by mass media; junk food manufacturers, diet, weight loss, elective surgery, and self help markets. Self-loathing is profitable, and so it's -- whether deliberately or not -- cultivated and profited from. However, the rise of eating disorders, depression, dysmorphia, etc., show that, like petroleum and other natural resources, there are limits the endurance of the human psyche, and there's a point where it stops adapting, and starts shutting down. In response to this, the problem is personalized by society and medicine: the miserable person suffers from a disease, and is DEFINITELY not responding to something in their environment. But, really, it could be one or the other, or maybe both. It's hard to tell when there's a profit motive even treating it as an illness, and a defense of the system itself in removing corporate responsibility from the equation. A similar question is raised by Mark Ames's book, "Going Postal," where possibly toxic, exploitative and abusive workplaces go unexamined because it's easier marginalize the behavior of an individual than it is to look at what messy things might have influenced them. Ultimately, it's an indictment of the social irresponsibility of the capitalist system, and its insatiable need to create unsustainable ways to move money around.
The mind-body dichotomy described, in which men and women are separated (implicitly) by the culture into mental faculties and physical characteristics, respectively. Its roots are traced as far back as Aristotle, who posits that women are essentially soulless and evil, and men pure and intellectual. If the soul is really just the reification of a metaphysical concept (the mind having a presence beyond the body), then it's not far fetched to suggest that secular western culture could easily adapt this idea while shedding its superstitious origins. Similarly, the Christian view positioned women as wicked, drawing men toward temptation. If one thinks in terms of the mind-body dichotomy, where men would wish to shed their bodies in favor of the purely metaphysical, unwelcome biological responses (sexual urges) would seem a hindrance to that ideal. Except that they misidentified the source as something external, as Christians often do (the fucking devil made me do it!). In the passages offered, Aristotle comes off as what would currently be regarded as an embittered nerd, elevating his own strength for abstract thought (though he was often completely off) by denigrating those he was somehow preoccupied by (love and hate both being passions). Evolutionary biologists have made the case that prejudice is closer to human instinct than tolerance or egalitarianism. Under this view, our ancestors were suspicious first of those outside their families; then outside their tribes and villages; then those from other ethnicities; other nations; other ideologies; and so on. Is there something innate that also inclines a fear of "otherness" between genders?
While a lot of interesting questions are posed, I wasn't satisfied that so much was attributed to society, without also looking at the biological tendencies around which societies and cultures are formed. For instance, the common notion that men gain status directly through their accomplishments, while women must do so through physical characteristics, and only then indirectly through their attachment to a man. It's fair to criticize the convention (though both sexes are fairly trapped in their roles), but they didn't develop in a vacuum. There was no exalted architect for this. One has consider when such things might have been natural and relevant, and realize perhaps that it's only through the development of society that they've been called into question. It is, to look at it from another angle, not practical or utilitarian to be stronger than average in a culture disconnected from the process of finding food or fighting predators. Obviously, this was not always so, and yet strength is still well-regarded in spite of its growing irrelevance (in many professions, at least). Maybe, like racism, it may not be instinctively natural to question gender ideals; but it may be consciously possible. There's also the question of the evolutionary imperative itself. Though modern society has enabled people of a broader range of genetic fitness or adaptability to live longer and more productively, there may be traits that are quantitatively healthier and more desirable from a genetic standpoint (genetic cues being read unconsciously through pheromones, facial symmetry, etc.).
Though I think the author fatuously implies a concerted effort to do this (outside of the marketing realm), she makes a solid case that the feminine ideal has been based upon the tastes of the men of a given time period; and has evolved as such. Their compliance being necessary to the indirect attainment of security/status within society. And the trend has been (literally) narrowing the ideal to mathematical traits, where beauty can be broken down to symmetry and proportions, predictably and consistently. Where nevertheless beautiful models fall below this ideal, their images are manipulated to meet it. This isn't new: the painting, "Grande Odalisque" by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres (recently referenced in a Manic Street Preachers lyric) portrayed a woman with an elongated back, to suit the artist's aesthetic ideal. What is new is the homogenization of the media, across the country and around the world. Now people are exposed to the same images, and the sameness of those images is ever increasing, while the disparity between the public and those images is also increasing (e.g. the rise of obesity in western culture). While it may be physically impossible to change one's build to match the ideal, the dominance of western culture in other countries also confronts people of entirely different ethnicities with an even more remote sense of what's attractive. This puts people in a state of "wrongness" about which they can do nothing but repent (buy shit), as with concepts like Original Sin; manipulative guilts that can never be quenched.
And, well, this is good for industry, too. While the images are the product, and there are products the images help sell, the component of insecurity is also vital to the symbiotic relationship enjoyed by mass media; junk food manufacturers, diet, weight loss, elective surgery, and self help markets. Self-loathing is profitable, and so it's -- whether deliberately or not -- cultivated and profited from. However, the rise of eating disorders, depression, dysmorphia, etc., show that, like petroleum and other natural resources, there are limits the endurance of the human psyche, and there's a point where it stops adapting, and starts shutting down. In response to this, the problem is personalized by society and medicine: the miserable person suffers from a disease, and is DEFINITELY not responding to something in their environment. But, really, it could be one or the other, or maybe both. It's hard to tell when there's a profit motive even treating it as an illness, and a defense of the system itself in removing corporate responsibility from the equation. A similar question is raised by Mark Ames's book, "Going Postal," where possibly toxic, exploitative and abusive workplaces go unexamined because it's easier marginalize the behavior of an individual than it is to look at what messy things might have influenced them. Ultimately, it's an indictment of the social irresponsibility of the capitalist system, and its insatiable need to create unsustainable ways to move money around.
January 1, 2018
“I was going out with a guy who was very cute and I was feeling like the happiest person in the world. His friends started giving him a hard time because I was fat and also the smartest girl in the school and you don't go out with the fattest and smartest girl in the school.”
November 2, 2024
3.5/5 ⭐️’s probably
this was assigned reading for a class and it was a pretty good book, it’s kind of stuff that is obvious now. it was difficult to read but that was just a personal trigger thing for me
this was assigned reading for a class and it was a pretty good book, it’s kind of stuff that is obvious now. it was difficult to read but that was just a personal trigger thing for me
March 23, 2024
I didn't really get much from this read; it's a mix of summaries of other works, coupled with a lot of ED-porn quotes more for shock value than critical analysis.
November 5, 2013
Borrowing on the success of The Beauty Myth, Hesse-Biber offers this argument - that the socio-cultural preoccupation with policing bodies and weight is a cult which we are initiated into from birth. Starting in the 1960s, it has grown into it's own self actualised being that no longer needs gate keepers to sustain it. Her arguments are sound, and as with other similar analyses, oft uses highly emotional knowledge. On the whole, the book is an easy read, and is light on academic language.
I read the second edition, which was revised and published in 2007 - 11 years after the first edition. It was disappointing to note that although Hesse-Biber had updated and re-contextualised many of her statistics, examples, and advertisements (in much the same way Jean Kilbourne does in her Killing Us softly lectures), she was still using the same early 90s stats - zombie stats - regarding models and body image. Her analysis of Abercrombie and Fitch's inclusiveness (or lack thereof) seemed outdated. There were also moments where her argument seemed to cloud her analysis - such as asserting that one's social class is not visible, whereas weight is. The issue is more complex than this.
Hesse-Biber's study that formed the basis for the cultural analysis in the book, was also limited to College students. Therefore, it lacked inclusiveness and re-affirmed the notion of thin/ EDs as a middle- upper class issue. Although she later attempted to refute this in the book, it became the prevailing subcontext, and contradicts her above assertion.
Hesse-Biber's most interesting distinction in the book is between culturally induced eating disorders, and psychologically induced eating disorders. Although the two can merge, or be indistinguishable, the former is driven by a desire to be thing, and the latter by a desire for order and control - often over one's circumstances or emotions.
One positive take away from the book is Hesse-Biber's attitude towards weight - or lack thereof. The bias is towards culture, and not towards the body. Often in literature like this, a fat-phobic subcontext runs through the book, undercutting the authors good intentions, and honest attempt to understand the culture of thin (See, Emma Woolf).
The book includes extensive notes and bibliography for each chapter, which probably takes up a third of the book, but it is clear where most findings come from that are not her own. The Cult of Thinness is extensively referenced throughout academic literature, and it is clear why. I only hope that in her next edition she updates the Zombie stats.
I read the second edition, which was revised and published in 2007 - 11 years after the first edition. It was disappointing to note that although Hesse-Biber had updated and re-contextualised many of her statistics, examples, and advertisements (in much the same way Jean Kilbourne does in her Killing Us softly lectures), she was still using the same early 90s stats - zombie stats - regarding models and body image. Her analysis of Abercrombie and Fitch's inclusiveness (or lack thereof) seemed outdated. There were also moments where her argument seemed to cloud her analysis - such as asserting that one's social class is not visible, whereas weight is. The issue is more complex than this.
Hesse-Biber's study that formed the basis for the cultural analysis in the book, was also limited to College students. Therefore, it lacked inclusiveness and re-affirmed the notion of thin/ EDs as a middle- upper class issue. Although she later attempted to refute this in the book, it became the prevailing subcontext, and contradicts her above assertion.
Hesse-Biber's most interesting distinction in the book is between culturally induced eating disorders, and psychologically induced eating disorders. Although the two can merge, or be indistinguishable, the former is driven by a desire to be thing, and the latter by a desire for order and control - often over one's circumstances or emotions.
One positive take away from the book is Hesse-Biber's attitude towards weight - or lack thereof. The bias is towards culture, and not towards the body. Often in literature like this, a fat-phobic subcontext runs through the book, undercutting the authors good intentions, and honest attempt to understand the culture of thin (See, Emma Woolf).
The book includes extensive notes and bibliography for each chapter, which probably takes up a third of the book, but it is clear where most findings come from that are not her own. The Cult of Thinness is extensively referenced throughout academic literature, and it is clear why. I only hope that in her next edition she updates the Zombie stats.
May 11, 2009
This is another fascinating book about cultural pressures and how the female body is somehow still owned by society. I have my own food/body issues, including but not limited to being able to eat in front of people. This book discusses how young girls especially are taught early on if they are thin, pretty and good girls they will attract the right guy and live happily ever after. Makes one wonder if women's lib ever happened. There is also some shocking information about the booming industry of weightloss products...you will be shocked, I can promise you that. With that said, the book also touches on the cultural pressure now put on young men. Anorexia was once believe to be a women's disease, this book touches on the stress young men now face to have a certain physique.
June 1, 2012
Well written and dense, packing a lot into one slim volume, a perfect balance between anecdotal evidence in the form of life stories told by the people Prof. Hesse-Biber interviewed and the cold hard facts and figures she lays out. Beyond all the problems people are developing by being taught to hate their own bodies, the part I found the most eye opening was when she points out how much money there is to be made by making people miserable, offering all sorts of expensive and dubious products and services to make them “happy”, i.e. thin.
Only problem is this book is already heavily dated – so I’ll have to check out the new edition to see what the oughts have wrought in terms of our culture’s perfidious message that thin=happy.
June 11, 2007
Very disturbing look at how the cult of thin has effectively made slaves of all white women in the 20th century. It examines dieting habits of women throughout the 1920s-today, looks at eating disorder prevalence, how being thin has become the unattainable standard, and how all of this has affected our society as a whole. A really great book.
August 4, 2007
another book that will make you hate capitalism...a very revealing and insightful critique of society's emphasis on thinness for women and men...
August 29, 2009
Very nice study of appearance-obsession...but would benefit from some of the theory in Bryan S. Turner's The Body and Society.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews