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Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters, Courteney Martin.
I had high hopes for this book, mostly because Courteney Martin participates in the feminist and liberal blogosphere. She seems to be a clever, well-spoken advocate for young woman. She knows about the body acceptance movement. A book about the normalcy of young women hating their bodies, and therefore turning their energies to an ultimately self-destructive end? It sounded perfect.
Yeah. No.
The problems with this book can be characterized by a one-off line in which Martin reports that "eating disorders may be the only sin God can't tolerate." She means it to be an exploration of why young women should be respecting their bodies as divine expressions of diversity in nature, or their own spirituality, or an opportunity to change things. But ultimately she comes across as too general, negative and condemning the actions of these already troubled young women. She states the cases of several women suffering from eating disorders and the societal issues that contribute to them, which is wonderful work, but she doesn't begin to speculate on how to fix the problem. How to prevent it from spreading to the next generation. How to save your daughter, or your sister, or yourself. "It's a shame, I hope they get help," may get you a book deal but it resolves exactly nothing.
I also felt like Martin took a misstep in including obesity in a book about eating disorders, because after several chapters of saying how these young women were killing themselves by not eating, she... warns the girls themselves not to eat TOO much. Find a "healthy" weight or die from heart disease, and nobody wants THAT. Never mind that drastic weight loss often puts the body's setpoint higher and so individuals recovering from eating disorders may end up heavier than when they started. Never mind that this is a ridiculous thing for someone involved in treating anorexia or bulimia to worry about, people getting fat on their bones. Never mind that the body dysmorphia typical in ED might make them think 60 pounds is too fat, let alone 160 or (GASP!) 260. No, Martin tells them to try exercise (which is a good way to reconnect to one's body, but the book itself discusses exercise bulimia as a disease) and to shoot for that narrow middle ground between skinny, healthy, fat according to the culture and actually being FAT. Agree or disagree with body acceptance as a movement, but many women recovering from ED have found it a liberating philosophy that allows them to heal. Give people the option if you know it's there.
So, yes. I can't recommend this book.
I had high hopes for this book, mostly because Courteney Martin participates in the feminist and liberal blogosphere. She seems to be a clever, well-spoken advocate for young woman. She knows about the body acceptance movement. A book about the normalcy of young women hating their bodies, and therefore turning their energies to an ultimately self-destructive end? It sounded perfect.
Yeah. No.
The problems with this book can be characterized by a one-off line in which Martin reports that "eating disorders may be the only sin God can't tolerate." She means it to be an exploration of why young women should be respecting their bodies as divine expressions of diversity in nature, or their own spirituality, or an opportunity to change things. But ultimately she comes across as too general, negative and condemning the actions of these already troubled young women. She states the cases of several women suffering from eating disorders and the societal issues that contribute to them, which is wonderful work, but she doesn't begin to speculate on how to fix the problem. How to prevent it from spreading to the next generation. How to save your daughter, or your sister, or yourself. "It's a shame, I hope they get help," may get you a book deal but it resolves exactly nothing.
I also felt like Martin took a misstep in including obesity in a book about eating disorders, because after several chapters of saying how these young women were killing themselves by not eating, she... warns the girls themselves not to eat TOO much. Find a "healthy" weight or die from heart disease, and nobody wants THAT. Never mind that drastic weight loss often puts the body's setpoint higher and so individuals recovering from eating disorders may end up heavier than when they started. Never mind that this is a ridiculous thing for someone involved in treating anorexia or bulimia to worry about, people getting fat on their bones. Never mind that the body dysmorphia typical in ED might make them think 60 pounds is too fat, let alone 160 or (GASP!) 260. No, Martin tells them to try exercise (which is a good way to reconnect to one's body, but the book itself discusses exercise bulimia as a disease) and to shoot for that narrow middle ground between skinny, healthy, fat according to the culture and actually being FAT. Agree or disagree with body acceptance as a movement, but many women recovering from ED have found it a liberating philosophy that allows them to heal. Give people the option if you know it's there.
So, yes. I can't recommend this book.
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Sounds like her book was a good idea, but poorly executed.
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Wow, um, yeah. That would've had me hurling the book into the opposite wall, as a poor substitute for punching the author in the face. Of course someone's LIFE-THREATENING MENTAL ILLNESS will go away because you tell her she's been a Very Bad Girl! (Ahem. Can you tell I've been there and done that, and get a tiny bit violently angry when people talk crap about it?)
I also felt like Martin took a misstep in including obesity in a book about eating disorders, because after several chapters of saying how these young women were killing themselves by not eating, she... warns the girls themselves not to eat TOO much.
Yes, because what someone recovering from an eating disorder REALLY needs to do is to worry about her weight. Years after I stopped sticking my fingers down my throat, I don't weigh myself any more, and after one instance fucked me up for months, I'll argue any doctor/nurse into the ground who tries it. It's just something I will not allow, like any discussion of weight and dieting. Does the word "trigger" mean anything to this moron?
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In a lot of ways trying to talk about over and underweight in the same book is too much.
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I've got a book in my amazon list called Holy Anorexia, about the history of fasting women...I've been thinking about getting it soon. My own particular problem lies in the *other* direction, with food being very much love and comfort. I don't and never have suffered from either anorexia or bulemia, but I can certainly understand those who do. Similar needs, expressed differently, perhaps.
This icon was adapted by my friend madam_mora from a base that lit_gal shared with me. Lit_gal, who makes lovely icons, got tired of scrawny models and looked for images of plus-sized women she could use, and I had it adapted to my own twisted purposes, mwahaha...I look at her and think "plus-sized?" But-she's PRETTY! and SEXY! and gets PAID for looking just the way she looks! Is that allowed?!
Too bad the book sucked. :(