The Body Myth: Adult Women and the Pressure to be Perfect

by Margo Maine, Joe Kelly

Intellectually, women know that:

We are more than the sum of our physical parts The answers to life's problems can't be found in an "ideal" weight or body shape Our sense of personal and professional fulfillment shouldn't be determined by our dress size

Still, too many of us remain caught up in the grim downward spiral of body image distress, overexercising, compulsive dieting, and obsessions about "good" and "bad" food. Meanwhile, many of us believe that eating disorders and body image issues are problems for adolescent girls, not for mature women. So we're often too ashamed to talk honestly with anyone about our dilemma.

Now there is hope.

Clinical psychologist Margo Maine has been successfully helping women over thirty overcome eating disorders and body image problems for more than twenty years. In The Body Myth, she explains the terrible toll these problems can take on your life. More importantly, she provides healing insights and proven techniques for reclaiming your life—or the life of someone you love—from the debilitating belief that a woman's self-worth and her worth to others are derived from how she looks, how much she weighs, and what she eats—our culture's Body Myth.

With the help of poignant real-life stories from women of various ages and walks of life, Dr. Maine explores the complex emotional, social, and cultural forces that perpetuate the Body Myth. She describes the dynamics of how and why it seduces so many otherwise sensible women into self-loathing, destructive behaviors, and unhealthy relationships with food and the body.

A unique and invaluable source of information and inspiration, this breakthrough guide equips everyone with the knowledge and tools to find release from the clutches of the Body Myth and live a more balanced, fulfilling life.

Genres: Nonfiction, Psychology, Feminism, Self Help

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

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

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish someone had given me this book when I started high school. This is one of the clearest and best books I've read on eating disorders and body image issues. Maine ties together the emotional, psychological, clinical, feminist, and sociological perspectives to understand what fuels eating disorders. Although she focuses on and uses case studies from adult women with eating disorders, the information that she provides is useful for women of all ages. In addition, she includes reflection exercises at the end of most chapters to help you understand your own relationship with food and the pressure for perfection. I highly recommend this book, and I can't wait to read her earlier book "Body Wars."

[Julio Bonilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Identity is central to a person’s sense of self.

[rebekah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every woman and man I know should read this book. I have been quoting it to all my disordered eating friends and myself since I started reading it. I think I need to read it again, cuz I am feeling fat. But seriously, a great book for the older eating disorder audience, which would be like, everyone I know and probably 98% of American women. My body is an instrument for me, not an ornament for someone else. LOVE IT!

[Peggy Sharp · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend this book! One of the very few out there for ADULT women specifically. As a 40 year old married woman with a toddler, I related to this book more than most of the others I've read that focus a lot on adolescents and young women. Great for anyone struggling with anorexia, especially, as the book has a section at the end focused on recovery.

[Crystal Milliken · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the best book on body image/eating disorders that I have ever read. She mentions the science behind being a woman, the natural changes that occur during different life stages, and the acceptance of those changes. It is a really encouraging book that will help those with an eating disorder or those who want to counsel women with body image issues. She does not mention God in the book, which I believe to be a key to healing fully. However, I strongly recommend this book even without that.

[Carey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I had real this book over thirteen years at the begining stages of my anorexia. I truly believe it would of saved me in some ways and given me a new persepective on eating disorders. I found the book truly helpful and worth re-reading again sometime

[Carla Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book I wish I had available to me 15++ years ago. A must read for all women who live in this society, not just women with eating disorders.

[Jessie Lowry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Also highly highly recommend the film Miss Representation.