Unbearable Weight: Feminism, Western Culture

and the Body

Susan Bordo

Chapter 5: The Body and the Reproduction of

Femininity

Bordo’s Feminism … “advocates a politically active feminism that highlights the

concrete impact of social forces on women’s bodies and considers possible forms of resistance” (Norton 2237)

“The body – what we eat, how we dress,

the daily rituals through which we

attend to the body – is a medium of

culture” (2240)

“The body is not only a text of culture…

[but] a practical, direct locus of

social control” (2240)

Bordo’s Feminism …

Bordo focuses on the illness of anorexia

(inability or refusal to eat)

Bordo argues “that the body does

not have a fixed and enduring nature;

bodies are plastic and change in

response to the social demands

placed on them” (Norton 2238)

Fat Barbie vs. Thin Barbie

The anorectic’s refusal to eat is tied directly to the peculiar “double bind” in which today’s woman is placed:

1) “She is expected to emulate the impossibly thin body that is presented as the ideal in countless media images” (2238) = Femininity

2) “She is urged to take control of her own life, to be strong, to become a superwoman” (2238) = Masculinity

Developmental Impact of Puberty

During the peak of puberty (age 12) adolescent girls gain 18 lbs. in one year. Media, however, portrays the ideal

woman with a thin, prepubertal body shape

Consequently, many adolescent girls are dissatisfied with their body image…

Can lead to eating disorders (e.g., anorexia nervosa, bulimia)

Anorexia is self-destructive (2239)

According to Santrock’s Puberty, Biological Foundations and Health, Adolescence (13th ed.), Chapter 2

Relationship of pubertal change to body image

Final comment: These changes are statistical tendencies, as every child is different and the environmental conditions promoting the above problems vary for early and

late maturing teens.

Consequences of Timing of Puberty

GirlsGirls BoysBoys

Early Early MaturingMaturing

Some social advantageSome social advantage withdrawn, low confidencewithdrawn, low confidence More deviant behavior More deviant behavior Negative body imageNegative body image depresseddepressed More long-term problemsMore long-term problems

PopularPopular Confident, independentConfident, independent Positive body imagePositive body image likely to smoke, drink likely to smoke, drink Can get in trouble with Can get in trouble with lawlaw

Late Late

MaturingMaturing

PopularPopular Sociable, lively, school leadersSociable, lively, school leaders Positive body imagePositive body image

UnpopularUnpopular Anxious, talkative, Anxious, talkative,

attention-seekingattention-seeking Negative body imageNegative body image

Media & The Distortion of Body Image

http://youtu.be/SCxjUrNbIkI

“Femininity itself has come to be larger a matter of constructing … the appropriate surface presentation of the self” (2244)

“Through the exacting and normalizing disciplines of diet, makeup, and dress – central organizing principles of time and space in the day of many women – we are rendered less socially orientated and more centripetally focused on self-modification.” (2241)

Self-modification is transparent

10

Body Image Interventions Teach teens:

There isn’t really a firmly objective standard of beauty out there. Personality weighs surprisingly heavy in how attractive we appear to others.

To understand that their own feelings about themselves influence their perceptions about how they look.

They have control of how they look. If they like themselves as people, and feel beautiful, the outside world will probably agree.

People can be beautiful at every size and shape!

Tying it all together—Body Image Your teenage daughter says “Mom, I look in

the mirror and think I’m fat and ugly.” What should your response be?

A. “Looks don’t matter—you’ve got brains and you are a good person, and those are the things that really count.”

B. “It’s all in your power. If you feel good about yourself as a person, you’ll feel like you look good, and other people will see yourself as attractive.”

C. “It’s all in your power. Just lose all that extra weight and you’ll look great.”

Cause and Effect: How the Media You Consume Can Change Your Life

http://youtu.be/Hv5Z2Xv8iJU

A possible solution = deemphasize aesthetic beauty and promote leadership and achievements in young women