Guest author Anita Johnston, Ph.D., “weighs in” on these and other poignant questions in today’s post.
“Why are so many females so dissatisfied with their bodies? Is it because there is such an emphasis on thin, angular bodies, which very few women come by naturally? If so, why has a naturally masculine shape (broad shoulders, no waist, narrow hips, flat belly) become the ideal for the female body?”
Dr. Johnston’s approach stems from her interest in female psychology and the role of women in contemporary society – shaped, in part, by her experience as a Miss Universe contestant at age 18.
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"Woman Spirit: The Root of the Hunger"
Today, more women than ever find themselves in a struggle with their weight. Diet books and programs for weight loss are a multi-billion-dollar industry. Anorexia, bulimia, and compulsive eating have reached epidemic proportions. In America, millions of women struggle with anorexia and bulimia, and thousands of them die from complications resulting from these disorders. Statistics indicate that 95 percent of those diagnosed with eating disorders are female.
Today, more women than ever find themselves in a struggle with their weight. Diet books and programs for weight loss are a multi-billion-dollar industry. Anorexia, bulimia, and compulsive eating have reached epidemic proportions. In America, millions of women struggle with anorexia and bulimia, and thousands of them die from complications resulting from these disorders. Statistics indicate that 95 percent of those diagnosed with eating disorders are female.
Our obsession with the body, continual dieting, and excessive exercise routines have become so widespread among women that they are now considered normal behavior. Bodies sculpted by plastic surgery to look like those of prepubescent boys with breasts have become the standard for the ideal female body. Since the average model or actress is thinner than 95 percent of the population, most women know the frustrations of living in a body that refuses to conform to the ideal.
It is impossible to discuss the causes for disordered eating without questioning the experience of being female in our society today. What is going on? Studies show that American women value being thin over being successful or loved and that most girls are unhappy with their bodies by age thirteen. Why are so many females so dissatisfied with their bodies? Is it because there is such an emphasis on thin, angular bodies, which very few women come by naturally?
If so, why has a naturally masculine shape (broad shoulders, no waist, narrow hips, flat belly) become the ideal for the female body? Why is it that those aspects of a woman’s body that are most closely related to her innate female power, the capacity of her belly, hips, and thighs to carry and sustain life, are diminished in our society’s version of a beautiful woman?
The answers can be found by taking a look at history from a perspective much broader than what we were taught in school. New archaeological data and research are revealing a much broader scope. Rather than reviewing civilization in terms of centuries, researchers Merlin Stone, Marija Gimbutas, Riane Eisler, and others are looking at the process of civilization over many millennia, as far back as thirty thousand years.
A long time ago, these researchers tell us, the experience of women on this earth for thousands and thousands of years was very different than it is today. In their world, that which was female, and all it manifestations, was honored and revered. The female side of God, in the form of the Goddess, was worshipped. The spirit of the feminine was recognized as the creative life force of the earth. Its symbol was the circle, a shape that has no beginning and no end. That which was round or curved was considered beautiful: the shape of the earth, an egg, the naturally rounded, curved shape of woman’s body.
Time passed and things changed. A new way of perceiving the world came into being. The circle was removed from a position of reverence and replaced by the symbol of the line, which had a beginning and an end, a top and a bottom, a superior position and an inferior position.
Women still live in a society where what is masculine, linear, rational, and logical is considered superior to what is feminine, circular, intuitive, and emotional. Today’s woman is a round peg trying desperately to fit into a square hole in order to survive and flourish.
How does she do this? By trying to shape her body into a more angular, masculine form, one that has zero fat to round off its edges. By denying her most powerful emotions and quieting her intuitive voice. Is it any wonder that in frustration she goes on strike and decides to stop eating? Is it any wonder that her body becomes a battleground for the war between food and fat?
This is an excerpt, published by permission from Eating in the Light of the Moon: How Women Can Transform Their Relationship with Food Through Myths, Metaphors & Storytelling ©1996 Anita Johnston, trade paperback edition published in 2000 by Gurze Books, P.O. Box 2238, Carlsbad, CA 92018 (800) 756-7533, www.gurze.com.
About the Author
Anita Johnston, Ph.D., is the Director of the Anorexia & Bulimia Center of Hawaii, which she co-founded in 1982, and is the Clinical Director and the Founder of the ‘Ai Pono Intensive Out-Patient Eating Disorders Programs in Honolulu. Dr. Johnston developed Hawaii’s first inpatient eating disorders treatment program at Kahi Mohala Hospital in 1986 and is an expert in treating a wide range of eating disorders from anorexia and bulimia to compulsive/binge eating and eating disorders associated with severe obesity and bariatric surgery. She is the Senior Expert Clinical Consultant to Focus Center for Eating Disorders in Tennessee.
The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the view of Eating Disorders Coalition of Tennessee (EDCT).
