The Body Project: An Intimate History of American Girls

by Joan Jacobs Brumberg

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Author: Joan Jacobs Brumberg

Paperback:
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN 10: 0679735291
ISBN 13: 978-0679735298

Hardcover:
Publisher: Random House
ISBN 10: 0679402977
ISBN 13: 978-0679402978

A hundred years ago, women were lacing themselves into corsets and teaching their daughters to do the same. The ideal of the day, however, was inner beauty: a focus on good deeds and a pure heart. Today American women have more social choices and personal freedom than ever before. But fifty-three percent of our girls are dissatisfied with their bodies by the age of thirteen, and many begin a pattern of weight obsession and dieting as early as eight or nine. Why?

In The Body Project, historian Joan Jacobs Brumberg answers this question, drawing on diary excerpts and media images from 1830 to the present. Tracing girls' attitudes toward topics ranging from breast size and menstruation to hair, clothing, and cosmetics, she exposes the shift from the Victorian concern with character to our modern focus on outward appearance—in particular, the desire to be model-thin and sexy. Compassionate, insightful, and gracefully written, The Body Project explores the gains and losses adolescent girls have inherited since they shed the corset and the ideal of virginity for a new world of sexual freedom and consumerism—a world in which the body is their primary project.

Review

"The Body Project is a very informative, interesting history of how girls were raised and perceived by themselves and others. Each chapter provides a concise chronology of events and mindsets of many different issues. The events throughout this century have provided girls with increased freedom and knowledge; however, it has also brought about more risky situations and possibly even more self-consciousness about their bodies and appearance. We, as school psychologists, play an important role in helping adolescent girls (and even preadolescent females) realize that their bodies are not the most important aspect of themselves. They should learn to be proud of their accomplishments, character, and intelligence, and that external beauty is not a reflection of who they are as human beings. This may not be an easy task, but we, along with the rest of society, need to take these small steps in order to attempt to make a difference. I would recommend this book to anyone who works with girls of any and all ages as it provides good insight into not only the past and present perceptions, but implications and recommendations for the future as well." --The School Psychologist: A Publication of the New York Association of School Psychologists

From the Author

JOAN JACOBS BRUMBERG on The Body Project:

America's adolescent girls are in crisis. Growing up in
a female body is more difficult today than ever before
because girls' bodies have changed and so has
American society. Menstruation and sexual activity
begin much earlier and there is also much greater
emphasis on the body as a way of defining the self.
Using intimate materials drawn from the unpublished
diaries of American girls, The Body Project provides
a lively and engaging story of how growing up as a girl
has changed over the past one hundred years, and why
the pressures on girls are now so intense.

Girls today grow up believing that "good looks"--rather
than "good works"--are the highest form of female
perfection. In the past, greater maternal involvment and
more single sex groups, such as the Girl Scouts,
supported the whole girl, placing greater emphasis on
internal rather than external qualities. But in the
twentieth century, that "protective umbrella"
disappeared, popular culture became more powerful,
and expectations about physical perfection increased
so that American girls came to define themselves more
and more through their bodies.

Today, the body has become most girls' primary
project, creating a degree of self-consciousness and
dissatisfaction that is pervasive and dangerous,
leading to the social and emotional problems identified
by Carol Gilligan, Mary Pipher, and Peggy Orenstein.
For everyone concerned with adolescent girls--parents,
teachers, librarians, physicians, nurses, and mental
health professionals--The Body Project is a "must"
read because it puts so many contemporary
adolescent issues in historical perspective.

A fascinating photo essay comprised of photographs,
advertisements and postcards shows how girls and
their bodies have changed since the nineteenth
century. From corsets to body piercing, the book
demonstrates how the preoccupation with the body has
intensified and why adolescent girls and their bodies
have born the brunt of social change in the twentieth
century.

Although The Body Project acknowledges a problem,
it is still an entertaining read because it evokes so
many memories in the lives of girls and
women--particularly personal milestones such as first
periods, pimples, training bras, first dates, and sexual
awakening. The Body Project is perfect for generating
mother-daughter dialogue, and it is remarkable for its
insight about what adolescent girls 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."

--Joan Jacobs Brumberg

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The Body Project: An Intimate History of American Girls