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Womansize: Tyranny of Slenderness
In this challenging book, Kim Chernin argues that our society’s increasing demand that women should be thin is no accident of fashion, but has a political meaning. It is, she insists, an unrecognised aspect of male violence against women; it has to do with the male-imposed image of the child-woman, and the threat to male culture that a mature woman, and a mature woman’s body, represent.
- GenresNonfictionFeminism
Paperback
First published June 1, 1983
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About the author
Kim Chernin
44 books22 followersKim Chernin (born May 7, 1940, Bronx, New York) is an American fiction and nonfiction writer, feminist, poet, and memoirist. She has published fiction, non-fiction and poetry.
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January 7, 2015
Two and half stars. Quite a strange and dated book about the way society regards woman's bodies. Chernin still seems to see 'fat' as a slightly 'bad' word and the ways anorexia/ fashion/ health fads affect us have subtly changed since the book was published. I think I was hoping for something more like Fat?So! by Marilynne Webb, but this is a more academic, psychological, philosophical type of text.
Chernin explores the ideas of eating and sensuality and how woman deny themselves the joy of food and how this relates the way woman feel about their bodies. She asks quastions about where our hatred for our bodies comes from. The idea that stood out for me, and I will be pondering for a while, is that we are taught to hate woman's bodies. Infants are in love with the curves and folds of Mummy but as we grow, turning into a woman is seen as a disgusting act. To spread in our hips, our breasts, the curve of our stomachs and the bloom of our thighs. These things are shocking and revolting for many young girls because fat is not beloved in our society. The fat, sweat and hair that comes with turning into a woman are rejected and suppressed. We expect girls to try and stay girls, to aspire to flatness, taughtness, smallness. Maybe a big, fat life giving woman is just too fucking powerful for our society and this is why we do everything to oppress her?
I would love to read a more recent book that explores these ideas if anyone has any recommendations?
Chernin explores the ideas of eating and sensuality and how woman deny themselves the joy of food and how this relates the way woman feel about their bodies. She asks quastions about where our hatred for our bodies comes from. The idea that stood out for me, and I will be pondering for a while, is that we are taught to hate woman's bodies. Infants are in love with the curves and folds of Mummy but as we grow, turning into a woman is seen as a disgusting act. To spread in our hips, our breasts, the curve of our stomachs and the bloom of our thighs. These things are shocking and revolting for many young girls because fat is not beloved in our society. The fat, sweat and hair that comes with turning into a woman are rejected and suppressed. We expect girls to try and stay girls, to aspire to flatness, taughtness, smallness. Maybe a big, fat life giving woman is just too fucking powerful for our society and this is why we do everything to oppress her?
I would love to read a more recent book that explores these ideas if anyone has any recommendations?
Displaying 1 of 1 review