The Ministry of Thin
How the Pursuit of Perfection Got Out of Control
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Losing weight has become the modern woman’s holy grail… everything will be better when we’re thin.
We’re obsessed with weight, we dislike our bodies, we worry about the food we eat, we feel guilty, we diet… Too many of us are locked into a war with our own bodies which we’ll never win, and which will never make us happy.
'The Ministry of Thin' takes a controversial, unflinching look at how the modern obsession with weight loss, youth, beauty and perfection got out of control. Emma Woolf, author of An Apple a Day, explores how we might all be able to stop hating and start liking our own bodies again. And she dares to ask: if losing weight is the answer, what is the question?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
British columnist and former BBC 4 presenter Woolf (An Apple a Day: A Memoir of Love and Recovery from Anorexia) follows up with a critique of the cultural forces that lead women to self-destructive behavior in the pursuit of physical perfection. Describing the messages women receive in terms of "ministries" of thought (the Ministry of Diets, the Ministry of Surgery, the Ministry of Age) Woolf unfortunately proves neither an especially insightful analyst nor a skilled investigator. Still steeped in modern beauty culture ("I find some female grooming procedures acceptable highlights, laser hair removal, eyebrow threading whereas Botox, fillers and implants make me mad"), and trying to make peace with the idea of fat ("the best way to look youthful is to not be too thin"), Woolf still buys into thinking of excess weight as immoderate and shameful ("despite having come close to death, I would still choose battling anorexia over battling obesity"). Young women struggling with eating disorders may find Woolf in too much of a different generation to be a role model, and those looking for a feminist ally may find her too tied to the core messages of the culture she critiques. But for readers who need to be gently brought back from unrealistic excess, Woolf may be just the right guide.
