A hunger So Wide and so Deep

Traditional Profile white, young middle- to upper-class heterosexual temporary or transitional phase a relatively recent phenomenon

Thompson’s data Average age 33 2/3 of women in study had been dealing with eating problems more than half their life Many were women of color Many were from working class or poor socioeconomic backgrounds Many identified as lesbian Many were taught disordered eating patterns

Politics of Invisibility Maria Root’s work on Asian immigrants Depiction of middle-class women as vain and obsessed with their looks White standards of beauty Lesbians are assumed to be free of male heterosexual gaze

Body consciousness is shaped by biological changes common to most women: growth spurts during childhood, puberty, menstruation, menopause, and the aging process. Women were able to better locate their sense of their bodies when using the term body consciousness. Body consciousness links an awareness of one’s social standing directly to social conditions. Whereas body image implies the individual on her own, body consciousness implies the body within a historical processes. Body Consciousness vs. Body Image

Eating problems vs. eating disorders Childhood as key time in learning about food and eating Connection between wealth and thinness Connection to internalized racism Compulsory heterosexuality

Whose Body is this, Anyway? The body as a playing field of multiple antagonisms Disliking one’s body, less for how it looks and more for how it seemingly complicates one’s life

Sexual abuse and eating problems Sexual victimization causes: body-image disturbances mistrust of one’s experiences and confusion about body sensations negative self-esteem difficulties in knowing one’s own emotions

How eating problems might appear help dieting might help a women feel that she can regain control of her body women may try to “get rid” of their bodies but purging food serves as a coping mechanism in much the same way as alcohol or drugs can dieting might make the body smaller and more boy like overeating might make the body too big and unappealing

Thinness as a Goal Time consuming and lots of time focused on the self to be thin is often times to be literally weak— physically weak Power: to be able to self-determine your life course has absolutely nothing to do with size…it has to do with all the issues we’ve been learning about in this class: it has to do with history, it has to do with access to education, it has to do with work opportunities and environments, it has to do with the ability to make decisions that most impact your own life, among other things

Why Food? Food is available to young girls Food is socially acceptable Food is less expensive Food is something you need Food is often associated with cultures Food can be eaten in isolation or it can be eaten in shared atmosphere in which overeating is part of the community experience Food is not seen as dangerous (like alcohol or drugs)

Healing Holistic: mind, body, spirit. The approach must include the whole self. Self-help programs: Overeaters Anonymous has proved helpful to both men and women. Counseling: not only specifically about eating but about traumas that might have led to the eating problems The right to feel—giving permission and providing enough safety to feel emotions Reclaiming positive aspects of self Political activism that links healing to larger historical and political struggles Recognize that healing is not a linear path