Feminist Figure Girl: Look Hot While You Fight the Patriarchy

by Lianne McTavish

Feminist Figure Girl chronicles the transformation of art history professor Lianne McTavish, from a university professor into an extraordinarily tanned and crystal-encrusted bikini-wearing "figure girl."Figure competitions seek a softer appearance than traditional forms of bodybuilding but still require rigorous weightlifting, an extreme protein diet, and many hours of posing in high heels. While training for a figure show, McTavish combined autoethnographic methods, participant observation, and feminist theory to find new ways of thinking about physique culture and the female body.

The author, who specializes in critical visual culture and the history of the body, explores such contemporary issues as body image, fat studies, identity politics, and "postfeminism," while rethinking fitness culture, diet regimes, feminist politics, reproductive activism, performance art, and the social function of photography. Written in a lively personal style reminiscent of McTavish's popular blog, she clearly explains the complex ideas stemming from the theoretical work of such writers as Judith Butler, Simone de Beauvoir, Michel Foucault, Iris Marion Young, Edmund Husserl, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty. The book also includes many photos documenting McTavish's physical transformation.

219 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2015

Reviews

[Hannah]

Really fascinating read! Review tk on the blog.

[Robin-Elise Call · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book embodied many of the topics I find to be interrelated, such as the physical transformations that occur through intentional effort (I'm a former ballet dancer, and sometimes act athletic through running, hiking, yoga, and weightlifting, so my body has often been impacted by the kind of physicality I choose), the expectations of female bodies, gender confusion, and body policing. Likewise I am interested in the ways different human bodies take up space, interact with space, and enact in the space of others. There were aspects of the book I found to be irritating, but that is probably more a product of the author's personality, and feeling like I was missing large amounts of documentation for her project. When observing time-based art, I want more of the documentation, so I can understand what has occurred. I get almost as much out of the physical residue in the form of photographs, timelines, measurements, meal plans, etc... She does talk some about the role of photographs within the world of bodybuilding and as bi-products of effort, intended to be tossed, and she also mentions additional images available on her blog. I do like how she refers to Heather Cassils' and Marina Abramović as artists considering repetition, immersion, and transformation. These sections were by far the most interesting to me. There's more still for me to think about, and after I return this copy to the library, I will find a copy to purchase for myself.

[Liz De Coster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Came for the cover, stayed for the phenomenology.