Waubonsee Community College

Body of truth, how science, history, and culture drive our obsession with weight--and what we can do about it, Harriet Brown

Label
Body of truth, how science, history, and culture drive our obsession with weight--and what we can do about it, Harriet Brown
Language
eng
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Index
index present
Literary Form
non fiction
Main title
Body of truth
Nature of contents
bibliography
Oclc number
884814411
Responsibility statement
Harriet Brown
Sub title
how science, history, and culture drive our obsession with weight--and what we can do about it
Summary
"Over the last 25 years, our longing for thinness has morphed into a relentless cultural obsession with weight and body image. You can't be a woman or girl (or, increasingly, a man or boy) in America today and not grapple with the size and shape of your body, your daughter's body, other women's bodies. Even the most confident people have to find a way through a daily gauntlet of voices and images talking, admonishing, warning us about what size we should be, how much we should weigh, what we should eat and what we shouldn't. Obsessing about weight has become a ritual and a refrain, punctuating our every relationship, including the ones with ourselves. It's time to change the conversation around weight. Harriet Brown has explored the conundrums of weight and body image for more than a decade, as a science journalist, as a woman who has struggled with weight, as a mother, wife, and professor. In this book, she describes how biology, psychology, metabolism, media, and culture come together to shape our ongoing obsession with our bodies, and what we can learn from them to help us shift the way we think. Brown exposes some of the myths behind the rhetoric of obesity, gives historical and contemporary context for what it means to be "fat," and offers readers ways to set aside the hysteria and think about weight and health in more nuanced and accurate ways"--, Provided by publisher
Table Of Contents
Introduction: How my life changed with one sentence -- A few words about research -- Four big fat lies about weight and health -- The amazing! seventeen-day! flat-belly! grain-brain! biggest loser! raw food! diet -- Good food, bad food -- Money, motivation, and the medical machine -- The truth about beauty -- It's all in how you look at it -- Now what?
Content
Mapped to