Women, the Body, Media, Consumption (cont'd)
Great essays this week by Bordo and Chernik, couldn't post because they're PDFs.
Author: MISTY STINNETT Date: Wednesday, March 5, 2008 4:21pm
The Body Politic: by Abra Fortune Chernik
5 years of anorexia, 3 months hospitalization, 2 years psychotherapy
“I accepted my right and obligation to take up room with my figure, voice, and spirit”
(140).
“Magazine articles, television commercials…write-ups on models had saturated me…”
(140)
“And society applauded my shrinking.” (141)
“People told me I resembled a concentration camp prisoner, a chemotherapy patient, a
famine victim, or a fashion model” (141)
In response to getting her body fat tested at a fitness store, the results of which came
back as only 10%, the man testing her proclaimed ‘The average for a woman of your
age is 25%. Fantastic! You’re this week’s blue ribbon winner’ (142). Remember this
during an outing while she was hospitalized.
“… a woman called beautiful because she threatened no one but herself” (142)
“As long as society resists female power, fashion will call healthy women physically
flawed. As long as society accepts the physical, sexual, and economical abuse of women,
popular culture will prefer women who resemble little girls” (142-143)
“Gaining weight and getting my head out of the toilet was the most political act I have
ever committed” (143)
“In order to preserve my health, my recovery has included the development of a new
consciousness that actively challenges the images and ideas that define this culture”
(143).
“A perversion of nature by society has resulted in the phenomenon whereby women feel
safer when starving then when eating. Losing our weight boosts self-esteem, while
nourishing our bodies evokes feelings of self doubt and self-loathing” (143).
“…a new study shows that men prefer women who eat salad for dinner over women who
eat burgers and fries” (143).
“…adding up calories and subtracting everything else. We accept what is horribly wrong
in our lives and fight what is beautiful and right” (143).
“For the first time in history, young women have the opportunity to create a world in our
image. But many of us concentrate instead on re-creating the shape of our thighs” (144).
“We must challenge ourselves to eat and digest, and allow society to call us too big. We
will understand their message to mean too powerful“ (144).
The Slender Body: by Susan Bordo
Diet for the “development of a “self” vs. diet to achieve an “aesthetic ideal”
Christian practice in the middle ages focused mainly on diet or fasting as a means for
achieving “excellence in spirit.” Toward the late nineteenth century, management of the
body started to become geared toward the body instead of the soul, in pursuit of an
idealized physical shape. (Bordo)
“Intelligible body” vs.” Useful body”
80% of 9 year olds surveyed made controlled dieting part of their day
“Slenderness …the degree to which slenderness carries connotations of fragility,
defenselessness, and lack of power against a decisive male occupation of social space is
dramatically represented [in fashion advertisements]” (86)
Bordo mentions how slenderness may be seen as a freedom from domestic obligations
Why is the body always seen as separate from ourselves as a whole? Why do we
alienate certain parts of it?
Bordo mentions that slenderness may be seen as a freedom from domestic obligations.
1) How many women (between the ages of 10 & 20) suffer from
anorexia? .
2) How many women (between the ages of 10 & 20) suffer from
bulimia? .
3) What percent of victims of anorexia/bulimia are male? .
Without treatment, up to twenty percent (20%) of people with serious eating disorders
die.
*Statistics are from www.ANRED.com
Ans: 1) 1/100 2) 4/100 3) 10%
Presentation by: Misty Stinnett
Author: MISTY STINNETT Date: Wednesday, March 5, 2008 4:21pm
The Body Politic: by Abra Fortune Chernik
5 years of anorexia, 3 months hospitalization, 2 years psychotherapy
“I accepted my right and obligation to take up room with my figure, voice, and spirit”
(140).
“Magazine articles, television commercials…write-ups on models had saturated me…”
(140)
“And society applauded my shrinking.” (141)
“People told me I resembled a concentration camp prisoner, a chemotherapy patient, a
famine victim, or a fashion model” (141)
In response to getting her body fat tested at a fitness store, the results of which came
back as only 10%, the man testing her proclaimed ‘The average for a woman of your
age is 25%. Fantastic! You’re this week’s blue ribbon winner’ (142). Remember this
during an outing while she was hospitalized.
“… a woman called beautiful because she threatened no one but herself” (142)
“As long as society resists female power, fashion will call healthy women physically
flawed. As long as society accepts the physical, sexual, and economical abuse of women,
popular culture will prefer women who resemble little girls” (142-143)
“Gaining weight and getting my head out of the toilet was the most political act I have
ever committed” (143)
“In order to preserve my health, my recovery has included the development of a new
consciousness that actively challenges the images and ideas that define this culture”
(143).
“A perversion of nature by society has resulted in the phenomenon whereby women feel
safer when starving then when eating. Losing our weight boosts self-esteem, while
nourishing our bodies evokes feelings of self doubt and self-loathing” (143).
“…a new study shows that men prefer women who eat salad for dinner over women who
eat burgers and fries” (143).
“…adding up calories and subtracting everything else. We accept what is horribly wrong
in our lives and fight what is beautiful and right” (143).
“For the first time in history, young women have the opportunity to create a world in our
image. But many of us concentrate instead on re-creating the shape of our thighs” (144).
“We must challenge ourselves to eat and digest, and allow society to call us too big. We
will understand their message to mean too powerful“ (144).
The Slender Body: by Susan Bordo
Diet for the “development of a “self” vs. diet to achieve an “aesthetic ideal”
Christian practice in the middle ages focused mainly on diet or fasting as a means for
achieving “excellence in spirit.” Toward the late nineteenth century, management of the
body started to become geared toward the body instead of the soul, in pursuit of an
idealized physical shape. (Bordo)
“Intelligible body” vs.” Useful body”
80% of 9 year olds surveyed made controlled dieting part of their day
“Slenderness …the degree to which slenderness carries connotations of fragility,
defenselessness, and lack of power against a decisive male occupation of social space is
dramatically represented [in fashion advertisements]” (86)
Bordo mentions how slenderness may be seen as a freedom from domestic obligations
Why is the body always seen as separate from ourselves as a whole? Why do we
alienate certain parts of it?
Bordo mentions that slenderness may be seen as a freedom from domestic obligations.
1) How many women (between the ages of 10 & 20) suffer from
anorexia? .
2) How many women (between the ages of 10 & 20) suffer from
bulimia? .
3) What percent of victims of anorexia/bulimia are male? .
Without treatment, up to twenty percent (20%) of people with serious eating disorders
die.
*Statistics are from www.ANRED.com
Ans: 1) 1/100 2) 4/100 3) 10%
Presentation by: Misty Stinnett