Susie Orbach vs. the Global Homogenization of Beauty
Susan Orbach, the feminist psychologist who wrote Fat is a Feminist Issue, is coming out with a new book called Bodies. In it, she’s examining how our relationship with our bodies has reached a crisis point, not just in terms of the fear and phobia of fat and the size-zero culture, but how the endless pursuit of the perfect physical form has infected cultures across the world. As the Times reviewer writes,
In Bodies, Orbach unpacks Freudian ideas such as hysterical symptoms and explains the role of genetics, the brain’s mirror system, the culture of perfectibility, the global homogenisation of beauty and the postmodern rhetoric of empowerment and choice that encourages girls in Iran to have Nicole Kidman’s nose, American girls to whittle down to Keira Knightley’s size, Chinese men and women to insert rods in their legs to become taller, 50 per cent of Koreans to exchange their eyelids for a Western version and Brazilians to pad their bums.
The book is due out on March 3, and the Times has a fascinating excerpt from the book up now that specifically addresses the Western Fear of Fatness:
The designation of fat as worthy of scorn and dislike, and of fat people as outsiders who should not only dislike themselves but also be discriminated against, is growing. This is not a new phenomenon (hence the organisations that exist to defend the rights of fat people) but the disrespect has intensified. Fat and fatness are now demonised and are seen as signals of class.
Yes, there are class issues involved in food distribution, food costs and nutritional education, but the contempt with which people talk about fat and fat people indicates something else. This is now viewed as a condition to be avoided, since it signifies both a loss of psychological control and membership of the wrong class, with an implied set of false aspirations.
The book looks incredibly thought-provoking, if not especially groundbreaking–I feel like it is not news, that being unnaturally, forcibly scrawny is unhealthy and not an ideal to strive for, that undergoing rounds and rounds of extensive plastic surgery chasing after an unlikely physical standard is indicative of deeper psychological issues, that as a culture we have a thoroughly fucked-up relationship with food across the board no matter what size we are. But these are significant issues that need to be continually pounded away upon, and Susie Orbach offers not only that but an analysis of the underlying causes. And we can hope that this combination of awareness and understanding might be one of the things leads us through to the eventual cure.
Me, I’ve preordered it; what do you think?
Posted by jenfu
Filed under: Advocacy, Books, Eating Disorders, Feminism, International, Media, Tidbit
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I’d LOVE to read this! Like you say, it will hopefully bring more attention to the issue and force people to really look at why they are so fat-phobic. The ideas may not be new to us, but I bet they are to a lot of people. Hopefully some of them will read it.
Ahhhh! I want to read it NOW!
I do a lot of work in Disability Studies too…and there’s some overlap in terms of what kinds of bodies are appreciated and celebrated, and what types aren’t. This seems like a really great book! Thanks for posting about it.
Yay, I’ve been wanting a new book to read. Everyone who goes to look at the book, please click the “I’d like to read this on Kindle button” to request it for Kindle. I’d prefer to read it on my Kindle.
Aw, damn. I got excited there for a minute, until I read that it’ll be using Freudian ideas. I have an MA in Women’s Studies and to this day I cannot for the life of my understand the popularity of psychoanalysis in this field. It is the most inherently sexist, racist, homophobic, Eurocentric theory out there and no amount of feminist “reclamation” or restructuring is going to change that. I’ve never read a psychoanalytic paper that wasn’t obnoxious or down right offensive in places.
Ah, well. Maybe even with the Freudian nonsense, this will contribute to some kind of critical mass tipping point where “Hey, starvation, self-mutilation, and obsession with appearance aren’t good for you!” finally takes hold in the larger public consciousness.
The global pressure to be a size 0 is astounding. This definitely sounds like a worthwhile read.
Looks like a good book- I’ll be sure to read it!
I’m with Lenore, with a slight spin on her reasoning.
The problem I always had with Orbach was that, even though she pretty much coined the “Fat is a Feminist Issue’ phrase in terms of quasi-universal usage, she did ignore all sorts of classist and economic and xenophobic issues in her first analysis.
(Having a rather big mouth, I of course wrote her a letter to tell her so.)
So to have her come out now with a book saying “Hey you guys! I’ve augmented my theory! There are also classist and economic and xenophobic issues that impact ‘fat analysis’! ” — well, you’ll picture the acute angles at which my eyerolling perodically pauses.
Lenore’s theory sheds some rather bright light on how Orbach might have managed to completely miss all those issues the first time around.
So I’m interested to see what she has to say now that she *thinks* she’s got a grip on them.
We’ll see.