Debra Gimlin writes in her
conclusion to Body Work—"The body is a site of oppression, not only
because physically stronger individuals can overpower weaker ones but also
because systems of social control operate through it." (141)  In an effort
to better explain just how the body can be (although not necessarily is) a "site
of oppression," Gimlin examines four places where women "work"
on their bodies—the hair salon, an aerobics studio, through cosmetic surgery,
and finally with the NAAFA (the National Association to Advance Fat
Acceptance).

The text is written in a clear and
approachable manner.  One reads each section on each group or practice and has
a conclusion chapter at the end.  Gimlin makes sure to pay attention to how
people react to her presence (the most problematic is her being a normal-sized
woman in the NAAFA group).  Certainly the most interesting chapter is the NAAFA
chapter.  For instance, one finds out that, at least in this group, the women
are not interested in dating similarly large men.  Rather, they prefer
normal-sized men who appreciate large women. 

However, aside from a few
interesting moments, this books strikes me as utterly unremarkable.  First of
all, she only visits one aerobics studio, one hair salon, a few people who have
gone through plastic surgery, and one NAAFA group.  Thus, one cannot generalize
any of her claims.  But, I wouldn’t suggest that the manner in which bodies
have become sites of oppression would be best revealed by a large statistical
study.  Gimlin’s approach might be more relevant if she spent some serious
theoretical work in investigating each site or practice or made it clear why
she chose these four "areas"—i.e., how they are interrelated, how
they support or reject a certain interpretation, etc.  Instead, her depictions
are superficial and usually simply state what any thoughtful person would have
already realized prior to reading the book.   For instance, there exists a
class distinction in a hair salon between the wealthier clients and the poorer
hairdressers.  Or, people engaged in aerobics are perhaps living up to
untenable, ideal standards that also confine them (even if they do receive some
control and happiness engaging in the practice).  She notes that people who
have plastic surgery are the most isolated of her four examples.  Well,
obviously since plastic surgery isn’t a group endeavor!  I simply did not find
anything in the book, aside from some descriptions about NAAFA, a group I had
not heard of, to be theoretically valuable.

Perhaps the one theme which is
never explored or justified, but still potentially promising, is the idea of
how a group can provide some protection or freedom in the face of body
ideals.  She notes that women are not simply oppressed by the work—they often
love getting their hair done (one woman calling it her favorite place in the
world), going to aerobics class, and celebrating their bodies in a supportive,
group environment.  With NAAFA, there is a desire to celebrate how one is, in
the aerobics studio and hair salon one discovers a shared endeavor to make
oneself attractive. "Finally," Gimlin writes, "woman who engage
in body work often enjoy the work itself" (147).  The women who engage in
plastic surgery are the most alienated, even after their transformations; they
remain the most unsure and the most embarrassed since they don’t have these
support networks.  It is the ritual which is important?  Or it is a necessary
reaction to an oppressive set of ideals?  If we had a society without a
certain, relatively narrow, set of norms for attractiveness, would women still
enjoy hair salons?  Is the group simply another set of norms one has to live up
to and, thus, not really liberating at all?  For instance, the fact that
normal-sized women are considered a threat at NAAFA.  If one lost weight, one
could then be excluded from this group just as the group itself is excluded
from common acceptance.

Gimlin is strangely silent in the
face of a contemporary wealth of interesting theory on embodiment, power
relations in society, and the media’s role in our self-image.  It is mystifying
why the University of California Press would publish this text as is.  Perhaps
with some more theoretical analysis, Gimlin could transform the occasional
interesting remarks and schematic studies into a text which explores how people
can be happy working on a body even if their body goals are determined by a
power structure over which they have no control. 

© 2004 Talia Welsh

Talia
Welsh, Ph.D., Department of Philosophy, The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Categories: Philosophical, Psychology