BOOK REVIEWS: The Body Myth: Adult Women and the Pressure to be Perfect
By Laura Simpson, RN
Reprinted from Eating Disorders Recovery Today
Fall 2006 Volume 4, Number 4
©2006 Gürze Books
by Margo Maine, PhD, and Joe Kelly
© 2005, Wiley, 278 pages, $24.95
A myth, as defined in Webster’s New American dictionary, is a "fictitious person, thing or happening." In this book, Maine and Kelly discuss the "body myth," an impossible standard, affecting women of all ages—and increasingly over the age of thirty.
These are the adult women who appear to have their lives together both personally and professionally, yet who are internally obsessed with the youth-oriented culture of thinness and who are consequently developing and suffering from full-blown eating disorders. The body myth says that a woman’s self-worth and self-identity are determined by a number on the scale or a clothing size. These women are making the unwise choice of appearance over health, which places them at a higher risk for developing Type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, cardiac disease and certain types of cancers.
Maine and Kelly describe "The Voice" in The Body Myth. "The Voice" convinces women that they cannot survive or succeed without giving this myth full credence and prompt attention. "The Voice" reassures women that the seductiveness of the thin, youthful body is absolutely necessary to create and maintain an illusion of control over the normal aging process. As a woman continues to indulge in eating disordered behaviors, her "vitality, concentration and mood gradually deteriorate," leading to decreased energy and less ability to focus and perform well in life.
The question for these women becomes, "Can I recover?" Maine and Kelly indicate that "The Voice" seldom disappears entirely, but eating and body disorder recovery starts when a sufferer decides to quiet and manage the voice, and listen to it less. Gradually, the scale and the clothing size become less of an indication of the woman’s success and self-worth. As the woman practices ignoring the voice that will lead her further into despair and depression, she gradually gains a more realistic perspective of herself as a mature woman residing in a healthy grownup body.
The Body Myth is a therapeutic and supportive guide for any woman who is aiming toward love and acceptance of her whole self.
