Hunger Strike

The Anorectic's Struggle as a Metaphor for our Age

Susie Orbach

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English

Karnac Books
02 March 2005

Psychology; Eating disorders & therapy

In this classic text, originally published in 1986, Susie Orbach brilliantly examines the anorectic's struggle. Anorexia is a battle; a battle to be thin; a battle of wills, denial versus desire. It is also about control; by conquering feelings of hunger, the anorectic woman aspires to conquer her emotional feelings as well. For Orbach, the struggle goes further. In this brilliant examination of women and eating disorders, she asserts that the complex relationship between women and food signifies women's battle for autonomy. Women's bodies are both private and public property. Society demands and expects women to look a certain way, to not take up too much space, to be self-effacing and mindful of others. Yet anorexia, whilst an extreme method of conforming to such demands, is conversely a rebellion against such ideas. It is the ultimate control over self, a cry of protest, a hunger strike against the contradictory and overwhelming demands placed on women in contemporary society.

Also discussed are attitudes towards eating problems, and how they have changed over recent years, and an innovative approach to residential treatment. This book provides a highly original insight into the underlying causes of eating disorders.

By: Susie Orbach
Imprint: Karnac Books
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Edition: New edition
Dimensions: Height: 198mm, Width: 130mm, Spine: 17mm
Weight: 453g
ISBN: 9781855753778
ISBN 10: 1855753774
Pages: 224
Publication Date: 02 March 2005
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Foreword -- Introduction to the 1986 Edition -- Introduction to the 1993 Edition -- Part I -- Anorexia: Metaphor for our Time -- Situating Anorexia -- Starving Amidst Plenty -- The Breeding of Body Insecurity -- Hunger Strike -- Part II -- Towards a Model of Self-help: Themes to be Considered and Tackled -- Bridging the Chasm -- Food: From Poison to Palatable -- Focusing on the Body: The Corporeal Sense of Self -- Behind the Defence -- Medical Issues -- Afterword

Susie Orbach is a psychotherapist and writer. She co-founded the Women's Therapy Centre and Antidote, the organisation promoting emotional literacy and is a visiting Professor at the LSE. She has a practice seeing individuals and couples and consulting to organisations. Her numerous works include 'Fat is a Feminist Issue' (1978), 'Hunger Strike' (1986), 'The Impossibility of Sex' (1999), and 'On Eating' (2002).

Reviews for Hunger Strike: The Anorectic's Struggle as a Metaphor for our Age

"'A much-needed antidote to the unsympathetic views often aroused by anorexia nervosa.' - The Times Literary Supplement'Ms Orbach extends the feminist analysis systemically, convincingly and movingly to portray the anorexic struggle as a ""metaphor of our age"".'- The New York Times Book Review"