Fat History: Bodies and Beauty in the Modern West

New Preface

NEW PREFAC E Research fo r thi s boo k wa s complete d i n th e mid-1990s , an d th e book itsel f ha s been circulatin g fo r si x years. In takin g the oppor tunity to add some comments for this edition, a welcome occasion, there ar e tw o obviou s targets . First , ha s th e book' s receptio n pro voked any particular concerns? And second, more important: Have there bee n significan t ne w trend s sinc e th e 1990s ? Ho w d o th e book's findings stan d u p i n ligh t o f th e additio n o f a bi t mor e contemporary history? The Book's Reception The boo k has , o n th e whole , fare d well . Sale s hav e bee n steady , and th e boo k als o has bee n cite d i n a persistent strea m o f medi a discussions, including radio and television shows about weight and diet trends. Fat History is not the only historical treatment of these issues, but it has become accepte d a s a standard. And interes t and concern abou t weight, health, and th e pressures and opportunitie s of appearance maintai n a n appetit e fo r insight s tha t the historica l perspective readily provides. Adding a comparative approach to the history helps a s well, offering som e challengin g vantage points on how an d wh y Americans thin k an d behav e a s they d o (a s well as why the French thin k and behave as they do). Reviews of the boo k hav e been largel y laudatory. The on e par tially critica l commen t tha t struc k hom e wa s a lamen t tha t th e book did not go far enough i n providing support and guidance fo r vi 1 viii | New Preface people wh o suffere d mos t fro m th e intens e pressure s o f the con temporary bod y image . Th e histor y o f dietin g an d weigh t con sciousness , i n bot h Franc e an d th e Unite d States , certainl y help s explain ho w troubled peopl e coul d seiz e on demandin g standard s as a reaso n t o rejec t norma l eating , throug h anorexi a nervos a o r bulimia. I t doe s no t howeve r focu s o n a condemnatio n o f thes e standards, no r doe s i t tel l thos e sufferin g fro m o r dealin g wit h eating disorders what to do. I sympathize d wit h th e criticis m —and certainl y wit h th e pai n eating disorders ca n caus e —but ultimately I thought i t was somewhat off the mark. First—and her e I may be vulnerable —I do not think th e historica l recor d necessaril y warrant s a condemnator y approach. I t is certainly true that the emergence o f weight control standards ha s pu t pressur e o n people . Thi s ha s undoubtedl y en couraged eatin g disorders (thoug h th e best history of modern ano rexia , by Joan Jacobs Blumberg, suggests the pattern began, chronologically , before th e moder n die t culture an d therefor e ha s more complex roots) . It has also encouraged, particularly i n the Unite d States, widespread dissatisfaction wit h one's own body, which I find both od d an d troubling . At the same time, modern historica l con ditions hav e als o encourage d weigh t gains, thanks to more seden tary jobs, less walking, and th e unprecedented abundanc e o f food. Considerable weigh t gain has occurred eve n with the existenc e of highly touted slenderness standards. Some of these weight gains, in turn, hav e probabl y bee n harmfu l t o healt h an d qualit y o f life . Here, the real question is not a criticism of the pressure slenderness standards appl y (howeve r harmfu l thi s pressur e i s to a minority) , but a discussion o f whether the standards, or...