Body Wars: Making Peace with Women's Bodies

by Margo Maine

In this ground-breaking study, Margo Maine declares war on a culture that dismisses, devalues, and disempowers women by making them hate their own bodies. This book covers issues from dieting and weight prejudice to concepts of beauty and ageism to sports, fashion advertising, and propaganda. With practical strategies for activists, educators, and parents, this book also contains extensive references and appendices. Body Wars takes its place alongside The Beauty Myth and Reviving Ophelia in recognizing the constant assault women face, but goes further by giving them practical tools with which to fight back.

Genres: Nonfiction, Psychology, Feminism

322 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1999

About the author

Margo Maine has specialized in eating disorders and related issues for over 35 years. A Founder and former Adviser of the National Eating Disorders Association and Founder and Fellow of the Academy for Eating Disorders, her most recent book, Hair Tells a Story: Hers, Yours, & Ours (Toplight Books, 2023), explores women’s relationship with their hair, a critical feminist issue and neglected aspect of body image. Dr. Maine is also author of: Pursuing Perfection: Eating Disorders, Body Myths, and Women at Midlife and Beyond; Treatment of Eating Disorders: Bridging the Research- Practice Gap; Effective Clinical Practice in the Treatment of Eating Disorders; The Body Myth; Father Hunger; and Body Wars; and Senior Editor Emeritus of Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention. The 2007 recipient of The Lori Irving Award for Excellence in Eating Disorders Awareness and Prevention, the 2014 recipient of the Don and Melissa Nielsen Lifetime Achievement Award and the 2015 NEDA Lifetime Achievement Award, Maine has served on many clinical advisory and community boards and is a 2016 Honoree of the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame. She lectures nationally and internationally on eating disorders and maintains a private practice, Maine & Weinstein Specialty Group, in West Hartford, CT. She loves the earth and gets up early every day to celebrate it.

Reviews

[riley rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was a book that i had to read for class, and i really enjoyed it. it opened my eyes to a lot of issues that are not openly talked about. i really wish there was an updated version, because it wasn’t always comparable to now. overall, a great book that i would recommend to everyone!

[Heather Hagberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every human being in the world needs to read this. Every parent. Every teacher. Every mentor. Every coach!!! This explains so much!!!! I could talk about this book for hours. Please read!!!!

[Cam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this is overall a great book, but things have changed so much since it was written in 2000 that it’s almost obsolete. I’d love to find a modern day book that covers the same topics.

[Jenny Corvo · Rating 4 out of 5]

To think this book was written before the internet was widely adopted and long before social media, yet it is incredibly relevant. You'd think we would have made progress, but everything talked about in this book is even worse now. It's an excellent primer, but of course many of the suggestions are outdated.

[NEMO · Rating 5 out of 5]

Liberation or Consumerism?
Why do we limit girls' goals to their potential as consumers and dieters? How did the Body Wars overtake the self-esteem, logic and judgment of women who are capable of so much? By maintaining the stat quo, Body Wars represent the clash between women's potential and their actual position in western culture. ..better to keep women worried about how they look than to deal with issues of quality! Althugh women have slowly gained rights (although still only earning 75 cents for every dollar of their male counterparts)the marketing of body dissatisfaction has replaced the antiquated laws and customs which, in the past, had limited women's power.
from Body Wars.

...alas it's true. i'm daily appalled by people, even friends, who tell me they judge people by their looks, and are only interested in a person's outward appearance. these are actual, supposedly full-grown adults. although, admittedly, mostly men...

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

While a lot of this book falls into the "I already knew that" category, the content also falls into the "I knew it was bad but didn't know it was THAT BAD" category. It was a good eye opener for some things (especially the Women's Health Care chapter) and a great reminder of how many of our self-critical/judgmental thoughts are driven by a Body War that is driven by media/advertising/government basis.

[Hava Liberman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the presentation of this material in a proactive manner even if it is a little over the top. The authors points about how to handle body issues in children are especially helpful. The author often cites research without describing the research population, often extrapolating results to the entire country/world.

[Corvus · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you know anything about women's issues, there is nothing new here, and if you know nothing about women's issues you'll probably find this annoyingly conspiratorial and heavy-handed. It even annoyed me, and I basically agree with her.

[Kathleen Macdonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

reading this book again from cover to cover...it is so very empowering.
Go buy it...
Now!!

[Elise Jensen]

This book is in my handwritten list as having been completed on 11/04/05...and the covers looks familiar. Otherwise, I don't remember it at all.

[Aunnalea]

Interesting topic, not so interesting book. I'm open for any suggestions on good books on the same topic.

[Danielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great information about how to combat body image issues. Yet, I felt that her section on Ballet was both unfair and incomplete.

[Breanne Roper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everyone should read this book, men and women both.

[Kmmoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit outdated, but some of her information is still timely. Worth the read.

[Alie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Useful for facts, and overall look at wieghtism but I was left wanted a deeper analysis.

[Fatima]

from Wellesley College