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A review by ashlynnlee_14
The Body Project: An Intimate History of American Girls by Joan Jacobs Brumberg
4.0
3.5 stars? I don’t know
I pretty much agree with all of the points everyone else has brought up in their reviews. This book lacks diversity and focuses strictly on the middle class white cis straight woman. This was published in 1997, so it makes sense that it wouldn’t conform to our 2019 standards of diversity. I’d love to see Brumberg release a more diverse sequel that touches on the experiences of POC.
I enjoyed learning about the history behind body insecurity and the sexualization of women. Others seem to have an issue with the final chapter of this book and its lack of sex positivity, but I did not interpret it that way. Brumberg explains that both Victorian and modern-day methods of handling female sexuality are not sufficient, and we must improve our methods of sexual education and an open, honest dialogue regarding our bodies. There are problems in both conservative and laissez faire ideologies of female sexuality. We have to find a way to meet in the middle in order to assure a healthy sexual climate for our youth. How we go about doing that, I am not sure. But it’s something we’ve got to work on.
I pretty much agree with all of the points everyone else has brought up in their reviews. This book lacks diversity and focuses strictly on the middle class white cis straight woman. This was published in 1997, so it makes sense that it wouldn’t conform to our 2019 standards of diversity. I’d love to see Brumberg release a more diverse sequel that touches on the experiences of POC.
I enjoyed learning about the history behind body insecurity and the sexualization of women. Others seem to have an issue with the final chapter of this book and its lack of sex positivity, but I did not interpret it that way. Brumberg explains that both Victorian and modern-day methods of handling female sexuality are not sufficient, and we must improve our methods of sexual education and an open, honest dialogue regarding our bodies. There are problems in both conservative and laissez faire ideologies of female sexuality. We have to find a way to meet in the middle in order to assure a healthy sexual climate for our youth. How we go about doing that, I am not sure. But it’s something we’ve got to work on.