The Obsession: Reflections on the Tyranny of Slenderness [Paperback]

Kim Chernin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 13, 1994

The Obsession is a deeply committed and beautifully written analysis of our society's increasing demand that women be thin. It offers a careful, thought provoking discussion of the reasons men have encouraged this obsession and women have embraced it. It is a book about women's efforts to become thin rather than to accept the natural dimensions of their bodies--a book about the meaning of food and its rejection.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Kim Chernin quietly and thoroughly underminesone hopes foreverthe popular, widely endured tyranny of 'thinness' over women's bodies and souls." -- Alice Walker

"A dense, subtle, moving, gentle yet powerful, wholly remarkable book." -- New Directions for Women

"Eloquently written, passionate in its rhetoric and consistently absorbing." -- New York Times

"The Obsession is a rare piece of cultural criticism, and a moving defense of feminine nature." -- Minnesota Daily

About the Author

Kim Chernin is a guest instructor at the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute, where she teaches a course in psychoanalytic models with Elizabeth Lloyd Mayer. She is the author of two books about eros and memory, Crossing the Border  and Sex and other Sacred Games  (with Renee Stendhal); a trilogy of books on hunger, The Obsession, The Hungry Self,  and Reinventing Eve;  a novel, The Flame Bearers;  a memoir, In My Mother's House;  a collection of poetry, The Hunger Song;  a book about psychoanalysis, A Different Kind of Listening;  and a spiritual memoir, In My Father's Garden.  She has studed music on her own since the age of seven, when she first began to play the piano.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (April 13, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060925051
• ISBN-13: 978-0060925055
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #517,297 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A life-changing historical perspective of women's bodies, March 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Obsession: Reflections on the Tyranny of Slenderness (Paperback)

I read The Obsession back in 1980, when it first appeared. I was struggling with a severe eating disorder, and thought my problem had to do with will power and discipline. The Obsession was one of three books I read that year that literally turned my life around: the other two were Feeding the Hungry Heart, by Geneen Roth, and Fat is a Feminist Issue, by Susie Orbach. Each gave me a different, and crucial, perspective on my own struggles. Kim Chernin's book reminded me that the craze for skinniness is a very recent development in Western culture; that it has everything to do with the power dynamics of our society, and nothing to do with whether we're good or bad people based on our size; and that the most powerful female figures in history have been amply endowed, if not (by modern standards) downright fat. After reading this book, I felt like a warrior goddess for weeks. It helped me let go of a lot of self-hatred and confusion about my body. Kim Chernin is also an exquisite writer - there were passages that literally took my breath away. I give this book my highest recommendation for any woman struggling with her body image, or any reader wanting to understand women's minds at a deeper level.

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Obsession: a feel-good feminist study, January 26, 2002

By 

T. Johnson (PA, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Obsession: Reflections on the Tyranny of Slenderness (Paperback)

This thoughtful, powerful, and well-researched study of women`s preoccupation with food and weight is one of the best feminist reads ever. I began the book with expectations of simply enjoying a valid cultural history of food and eating. Soon, however, I could`nt put it down, as I recognized myself and many of my friends and relatives in Chernin`s case histories and literary examples. She captures perfectly the feelings of guilt and low self-esteem that ensue when you don`t stick to a society-prescribed diet, even though that diet may be harming you physically and emotionally. She mentions at length the uneasiness felt by women who are miraculously happy with their bodies, because a culture and media obsessed with willowy, thin figures subtly pressure them to feel uneasy. The structure of the book is set up as a neat balance between real-life studies of anorexia and other weight disorders juxtaposed with cultural and literary views on women and their appetites and figures. The section on Margaret Atwood`s novel "The Edible Woman" and its treatment of the anorexic personality is just one instance where Chernin`s insights amaze you. At the book`s fascinating conclusion, I felt like cheering. It makes one feel proud to be a woman, no matter what size you wear or which body part you dislike. I`m not going to say that it turned my entire self-image around, but it definitely helped set me on a path of self- discovery and liking my physical body beter. That`s why I hope today`s young women will find and read it, too. Oh, and the poem comparing designer jeans to girdles is priceless!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Poignant and Revealing book, January 10, 2006

By 

Eleanor J. Garrett "eleanorgarrett" (Tyler, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Obsession: Reflections on the Tyranny of Slenderness (Paperback)

I read this book a while ago and was very moved and still am by its candidness. I found that it will resonate with anyone who has experienced an eating disorder, and it will enlighten someone who is naive to the hell that underlies such an eating disorder. After reading this remarkable volume, one cannot help but realise that eating disorders are not at all about food and that overcoming one involves much more than changing one's eating habits. The reader will realise that beating such a disorder is no easy feat. It can be the hardest task someone will ever complete.