September Book Club: The Body Project

I can't believe we already had our second book club meeting this past weekend. This month, we met to discuss The Body Project by Joan Jacobs Brumberg. I'll be honest, but I have to whisper it, because I'm just slightly embarrassed: I didn't finish the entire book. Turns out, it was no big deal, mostly because I was still able to participate in the discussion since it was a non-fiction book, with most of our questions being very relevant to our own experiences as females. And no one tsk, tsk'd me.  

Warning: I'm not attempting to write a synopsis or critique of the book, because I'm not in school and just like to think, however scatter-brained that turns out. So for now, just offering a few thoughts I found intriguing for you to chew on a bit.

The book dives into historical detail (through the 1990s) of issues girls face today. Brumberg focuses on how "...the body has become most girls' primary project, creating a degree of self-consciousness and dissatisfaction that is pervasive and often dangerous" and the various reasons why this is the case. It was a very informative book and will have you go "ah-ha" at moments, want to cry the next, scream or rip a pillow in half in frustration.

With the best chocolate chip cookies you can buy from a store in the world (shout out to Safeway & Thanks, Alison!), pink lemonade (my favorite) and a veggie try with yummy dip (Thanks, Amy!), we discussed what we "have gained and lost as American women shed the corset and the ideal of virginity for a new world of dieting and body sculpting, sexual freedom and self expression." A time or two, the question arose, are we freer now than we were 100 years ago? Depends on your definition of freedom. What do you think?

I would highly recommend this book to any woman, particularly those struggling with body image or wanting to gain a broader range of knowledge on the subject. I plan on reading a few more books on the topic, including re-reading Reviving Ophelia.

To wrap this up, I wanted to take a quick moment and point you in the direction of the lowest part of the right hand column on this page. Scroll now. A little more, and there you see it: my GoodReads widget displaying some books I have read. If you like to read, want to get back into reading or fall somewhere in the middle, check out GoodReads. It is a brilliant website that allows you to create lists of books you want to read, have read and are currently reading. You can see reviews on books from your friends and others, as well as write reviews and rate books yourself. There is a phone app too! It has one of those sweet bar code scanners that I just love, but has proven to be very dangerous near any bookstore, as I can go a bit overboard with it. Anyways, there is my unofficial, unpaid plug for another tech service I use. Do as you wish.