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Zusammenfassung
Zusammenfassung
In recent years, eating disorders among American girls and women have become a subject of national concern. Conventional explanations of eating problems are usually framed in the language of psychology, medicine, feminism, or sociology. Although they differ in theory and approach, these interpretations are linked by one common assumption--that female preoccupation with food and body is an essentially secular phenomenon.
In Starving for Salvation, Michelle Lelwica challenges traditional theories by introducing and exploring the spiritual dimensions of anorexia, bulimia, and related problems. Drawing on a range of sources that include previously published interviews with sufferers of eating disorders, Lelwica claims that girls and women starve, binge, and purge their bodies as a means of coping with the pain and injustice of their daily lives. She provides an incisive analysis of contemporary American culture, arguing that our dominant social values and religious legacies produce feelings of emptiness and dissatisfaction in girls and women.
Trapped in a society that ignores and denies their spiritual needs, girls and women construct a network of symbols, beliefs, and rituals around food and their bodies. Lelwica draws a parallel between the patriarchal legacy of Christianity, which associates women with sin and bodily cravings, and the cultural preference for a thin female body. According to Lelwica, these complimentary forces form a popular salvation myth that encourages girls and women to fixate on their bodies and engage in disordered eating patterns. While this myth provides a sense of meaning and purpose in the face of uncertainty and injustice, Lelwica demonstrates that such rigid and unhealthy devotion to the body only deepens the spiritual void that women long to fill.
Although Lelwica presents many disturbing facts about the origins of eating disorders, she also suggests positive ways that our society can nourish the creative and spiritual needs of girls and women. The first step, however, is to acknowledge that female preoccupation with thinness and food signifies a strong desire for fulfillment. Until we recognize and contest the religious legacies and cultural values that perpetuate eating disorders, many women will continue to turn to the most accessible symbolic and ritual resources available to them--food and their bodies--in an attempt to satiate their profound spiritual hunger.
Rezensionen (1)
Choice-Rezension
What do dieting, eating disorders, and obsession with thinness have to do with religion? According to Lelwica, more than one might think. The author has provided a probing and intelligent explanation of dieting and weight obsession that points to religiosity, morality, and absolution from guilt as the primary agents motivating women's irrational quest for thinness. Readers know that whittled female bodies are admired as the epitome of feminine beauty--but what motivates this extreme behavior aside from a desire for social acceptance? Lelwica argues that the answer lies in the spiritual hunger of the dieter and the illusion sold by advertisements that a sense of "salvation"--deliverance from difficulty or pain--comes with an ideal body. Thinness equates to being born again: women are taught that becoming thin will transform and purify; eating excessively and gaining weight are associated with feelings of shame, guilt, and immorality. Denying bodily pleasures, including the pleasure of eating, is often associated with spirituality and purity, and fasting has been ritualized by many religions throughout human history. Eating disorders remain a hot topic among scholars, and this work should be a welcome addition to college and university libraries supporting work at the upper-division undergraduate level and above and to professional collections. L. S. Beall; Auburn University
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Starving for Salvation | |
Preface | p. v |
Acknowledgments | p. vii |
Introdution | p. 3 |
1 Contemporary Approaches, Historical Perspectives, New Directions | p. 15 |
2 Popular Icons of Womanhood and the Salvation Myth of Female Slenderness | p. 39 |
3 Popular Rituals of Womanhood and the Saving Promises of Culture Lite | p. 67 |
4 The Struggles of Anorexic and Bulimic Girls and Women | p. 95 |
5 Cultivating Alternative Senses, Practices, and Visions | p. 125 |
Notes | p. 149 |
Select Bibliography | p. 191 |
Index | p. 201 |