Locker Room Diaries: The Naked Truth about Women, Body Image, and Re-imagining the "Perfect" Body [Hardcover]

Leslie Goldman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 22, 2006

I wish my thighs were smaller. "If only I could lose ten pounds." A wake-up call for any woman who has engaged in the "if only" wishing game, Locker Room Diaries uses the unique lens of the locker room to reveal what, exactly, goes into "shaping" not just a woman's body but her body image. The locker room can be a wondrous retreat, a place to toss aside the worries of the day, but it is also where our flaws become most apparent-and where most of us can't help but wonder how we "measure up." Often dressed in no more than a towel, Leslie Goldman spent five years talking with women of all shapes and sizes about their body image, from taut twenty-somethings to heavyset seniors. Why is it, she asks, that almost no one seems satisfied with her physique? From compulsive workouts to daily dates with the scale, from bikini waxes to body fat measurements, American women are swept up in a constant quest for the "perfect" body. Thankfully, more than one woman reveals how she halted her cycle of self-loathing and learned to like her body as is. Blending expert opinion with wonderfully intimate, often laugh-outloud, confidences, Locker Room Diaries will inspire anyone who knows the highs of exercise to leave the lows of self-esteem behind-and, most especially, once and for all, to step off that scale!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Self-confessed "workout junkie" Goldman has written a lively but exhausting book about women's body image and the cult of the locker room. A recovered anorexic, Goldman has an M.A. in public health and writes for the American Medical Association, but you'd hardly know it from the tone of this glib, giggly and also judgmental book. Goldman interviewed members of her high-end Chicago gym, many women of different ages and racial backgrounds, and those close to her age (she's 30-ish) and size mostly sound crass and thin-obsessed. Thankfully, a few older women contribute greater insight. As concerned as Goldman is by female self-loathing and obsession with perfect bodies, she appears to dwell obsessively on other women's bodies in a not particularly kind or sensitive way, launching at one point into a diatribe about the vulgar, unsanitary public rituals she sees women performing in the locker room. Yet she seems equally uncomfortable with the quiet women who dash in and out clad in towels, deeming them "Thoroughly Modest Millies" and regales us with descriptions of her lacy thong underwear. Who can win in this game? Maybe Goldman should have interviewed women who aren't exercise junkies. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

When Goldman, then a public-health master's candidate focusing on women's health, learned of the "No Nudity" policy in the locker rooms of Women's Workout World, she concluded that women's self-esteem had dropped very low indeed, and she began close observation, as "a peeping Tomassinna," of women's locker-room culture. When naked, we are physically and emotionally vulnerable, she posits, and insecurities surface. As a recovered anorexic, Goldman was intimate with her inner critic, and that enabled her to appreciate such rites as mounting the dreaded scale, so equated with self-worth; quasi-covert comparisons of breasts; and $50 bikini waxes and other beauty rituals. Citing numerous women, she concludes that a very great number hate their bodies and therefore themselves, and this attitude is found in ever-younger girls. Having seen that age brings with it greater body confidence and comfort and the shedding of self-consciousness, Goldman, who underwent deep transformation while preparing this eminently suitable addition to women's studies, says it is "time to throw in the towel on hating our bodies." Whitney Scott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 264 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (May 22, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738210420
• ISBN-13: 978-0738210421
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,397,143 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Writing Locker Room Diaries was a labor of love, an extraordinary journey in which women of all ages, shapes, sizes, ethnicities and backgrounds invited me into their lives to talk about a deeply personal topic. And look what I found: we all hate negative - oftentimes hateful - feelings about our bodies. This thread wove itself throughout the life continuum, starting as early as age three, with little girls who refused to eat their juice and cookies at school because they were "on diets," to older women who still felt shame about their wrinkles and sags, even though their bodies had given life to others, had sustained them through disease... (thankfully, most of the older women I spoke with had much more positive things to say about coming to terms with their aging physiques!) The book has definitely struck a chord - I was interviewed on the Today Show in July by the lovely Natalie Morales and it was featured in People Magazine as well! I think that's because, despite the aforementioned examples, the book is not just another sad eating disorder tome - it's FUNNY! My humor and own body image foibles (from first time bikini waxing to germaphobic locker room visits) are interspersed throughout, as are quotes from scores of other women, making Locker Room Diaries truly a sort of diary - a peek into the minds of what other women really think. Take a look - I bet you'll relate.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Delicious and Page-Turning Read! December 29, 2006

By B. Montgomery

Format:Hardcover

I devoured Locker Room Diaries over two days and I have since passed a copy along to my 3 sisters, my girlfriends, my husband, and even a student! I teach writing at a local university and Goldman's words sing and dance across the pages of her powerful book - a book that is part memoir, part ethnography, and part sociology. It is a beautiful work of art and a true labor of love.

Like Goldman, I too have struggled with my body over the years - constantly pushing it too many miles until it breaks or pinching every ounce of fat on my stomach and magically wishing it would turn to rock hard stone. Goldman's book is a testament to the times that we live in where Dove pushes for a "real beauty" campaign, yet the "real women" splashed across billboards are selling FIRMING lotion.

For any woman who has ever spent time in a gym, Locker Room Diaries will resonate with her. She will laugh and cry simultaneously as her fingers turn the pages. The voices that we hear talking about their boobs, bikini waxes, and food obessions are voices that we are familiar with - that we can relate to.

I highly recommend this book!!! Goldman will NOT disappoint.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Bravo for Locker Room Diaries! December 6, 2006

By HT

Format:Hardcover

I applaud Ms. Goldman for giving those who have struggled with body image issues the opportunity to read and relate to how a variety of women have felt about their bodies at various points in their lives. This book is unique because it blends a lot of wit and humor, research and expert opinions, and women's experiences together into a diary of lessons learned. Moreover, I appreciate that Ms. Goldman sometimes shares or even illustrates her own struggles with body image throughout the book. This is another attempt by the author to allow those readers who have been struggling with similar issues to understand it may be a long and sometimes bumpy road to recovery, and most of all, no"body" is perfect.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars HILARIOUS must-read for women of all ages! June 4, 2006

By Jessica

Format:Hardcover

I read this book in one day - it was THAT fascinating and THAT funny! My favorite chapters are the ones about whether being a twin is a bane or a boon to self-image, the cultural differences of body image, and the real truths about aging. There were more than a few gems of knowledge that I learned by reading this book and it makes for a great conversational piece.

Beyond finding myself laughing at Goldman's quick-witted barbs, I found myself having greater compassion for my own self-image...flaws and all! And THAT...is priceless.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Empowering August 23, 2006

By Laura S. Yates

Format:Hardcover

Locker Room Diaries is at once a fun read and an important commentary on society's unhealthy obsession with weight. I identified with many of the interviewees, and I saw my friends and family in many others. This book made me re-evaluate my own "health" habits and helped me to gain perspective on what's truly important. Goldman addresses difficult issues and unspoken insecurities with candor and wit.

I enjoyed Locker Room Diaries so much that I recommended it for my book club! Everyone loved reading it and it generated very honest, open, and revealing conversation. This is truly a great book!

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars No perspective or insight offered July 18, 2006

By Micki

Format:Hardcover

It seems like a lot of women loved this book so I will respect that - but I don't agree.

Like many women I have had a low-grade obsession with my weight and body but after reading this book I realized that I overestimated my issues.

I had to stop reading halfway through because it was just too boring and ridicules for words. The whole book is a parade of people spending their lives fretting about minute weight gains or the C-cup versus D-cup issue. But that is all it is: a parade of people lost to the world in navel-gazing over something truely meaningless. The authors obsessive listing of numbers does not sound to me like someone who has recovered from an obsession with weight and looks (nor does her picture on the backcover). It is sad how small you can make your own world.

There are a couple of really insightful books on weight obsession out there but this isn't it.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful, poignant and humorous June 13, 2006

By Helene

Format:Hardcover

I bought the book based upon its previous shining reader reviews, and absolutely adored it! I am shocked by M. Prindle's negative review, and couldn't disagree more with her/his opinion. Did M. Prindle even read Locker Room Diaries in its entirity? I doubt it; in my opinion, this book was filled with invaluable anecdotes and information about women and body image.

Like many women in my 30s, I have experienced a myriad of body image issues---ranging from anorexia in my teens, to a combination of anorexia and exercise bulimia in graduate school. I'm considered healthy now (thanks to therapy and medications), but I always carry with me an awareness of my body---my physical fitness and dietary intake are omnipresent in the back of my mind. Locker Room Diaries helped my to realize that I am not alone, and that body image issues are pervasive in our society. It also helped me to see that my body has meaningful and amazing functionality, and it's physical beauty (based upon societal and cultural standards) doesn't need to define me as person.

Locker Room Diaries made me both laugh and cry, but more importantly, made me contemplate my view of my own body in a less critical way. Also, Goldman's writing style was easy, flowing and infinitely witty. I read the book in three nights before bed, and wished that it was even longer! I can't wait for Goldman's next book!