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A review by montigneyrules
The Eating Instinct: Food Culture, Body Image, and Guilt in America by Virginia Sole-Smith
3.0
#readingchallenge2023 (my book with a body positive message)
Not quite what I expected, definitely a mislabeled title, but an interesting read.
Having a complicated relationship with body image & its impact on my ‘food experiences’ I looked forward to reading insights on eating instincts. I looked forward to feeling ‘not alone’ as I read more about society’s convoluted influence of food, diet, and health attitudes, but the book was a bit more personal than largely wise-spread cultural analysis. While the author discussed interesting (&some new to me) topics, a lot of the narratives were central to an extreme and/or specific situation losing the universality needed to feel engaged.
There was a wide breadth of topics, but the writing style wasn’t overall engaging, as if maybe she took on one too many topics, glossed over some with anecdotes where she needed more illuminating discussion (with facts/numbers)-it was all a bit too internal because the topics were too complex to take on in a larger cultural impact.
There were some helpful takeaways, such as the portion on discussing ‘good’ versus ‘bad’ food and how to reframe the mindset-
There were also some triggering takeaways, such as the portion on traumatic motherhood & food issues- i.e the chapters on pregnancy & pressures of eating, new body image, and woes of breastfeeding- again not what I expected in the novel, but interesting.
Overall, again the breadth of topics were fascinating, but I found myself having to take the ideas addressed and find additional research and insights outside the novel. Though I look forward to the author’s next book, as there is again promise in the title..
Not quite what I expected, definitely a mislabeled title, but an interesting read.
Having a complicated relationship with body image & its impact on my ‘food experiences’ I looked forward to reading insights on eating instincts. I looked forward to feeling ‘not alone’ as I read more about society’s convoluted influence of food, diet, and health attitudes, but the book was a bit more personal than largely wise-spread cultural analysis. While the author discussed interesting (&some new to me) topics, a lot of the narratives were central to an extreme and/or specific situation losing the universality needed to feel engaged.
There was a wide breadth of topics, but the writing style wasn’t overall engaging, as if maybe she took on one too many topics, glossed over some with anecdotes where she needed more illuminating discussion (with facts/numbers)-it was all a bit too internal because the topics were too complex to take on in a larger cultural impact.
There were some helpful takeaways, such as the portion on discussing ‘good’ versus ‘bad’ food and how to reframe the mindset-
There were also some triggering takeaways, such as the portion on traumatic motherhood & food issues- i.e the chapters on pregnancy & pressures of eating, new body image, and woes of breastfeeding- again not what I expected in the novel, but interesting.
Overall, again the breadth of topics were fascinating, but I found myself having to take the ideas addressed and find additional research and insights outside the novel. Though I look forward to the author’s next book, as there is again promise in the title..