The Ministry of Thin

February 24, 2014
British columnist and former BBC 4 presenter Woolf (An Apple a Day: A Memoir of Love and Recovery from Anorexia) follows up with a critique of the cultural forces that lead women to self-destructive behavior in the pursuit of physical perfection. Describing the messages women receive in terms of “ministries” of thought (the Ministry of Diets, the Ministry of Surgery, the Ministry of Age) Woolf unfortunately proves neither an especially insightful analyst nor a skilled investigator. Still steeped in modern beauty culture (“I find some female grooming procedures acceptable—highlights, laser hair removal, eyebrow threading—whereas Botox, fillers and implants make me mad”), and trying to make peace with the idea of fat (“the best way to look youthful is to not be too thin”), Woolf still buys into thinking of excess weight as immoderate and shameful (“despite having come close to death, I would still choose battling anorexia over battling obesity”). Young women struggling with eating disorders may find Woolf in too much of a different generation to be a role model, and those looking for a feminist ally may find her too tied to the core messages of the culture she critiques. But for readers who need to be gently brought back from unrealistic excess, Woolf may be just the right guide.

April 15, 2014
A thorough analysis of our weight-obsessed culture. "Disliking one's body and wanting to be thinner is the new normal," writes British newspaper columnist and BBC TV presenter Woolf (An Apple a Day: A Memoir of Love and Recovery from Anorexia, 2013) in her colloquial scrutiny of contemporary society's fixation on weight, appearance and the desire for outward perfection. She knows this slippery terrain well: Her bracing memoir chronicling a decadelong physical and psychological preoccupation with food is well-referenced here in chapters tackling the many facets of mild to major body dysmorphia. As her great niece, the author quotes Virginia Woolf casually throughout well-researched sections ("ministries") exploring the social connotations and demonizations of food, tedious diets ("the triumph of hope over experience"), fitness, sex and the concept of aging gracefully without the trendiest plastic surgeries. Along the way, she shares her personal indulgences (baked beans and frozen yogurt) and a marked disenchantment with increasing societal (and media) pressures placed on women to look, act, eat and feel a way that is often at odds with their goal of happiness and healthfulness. Less appealing are mildly catty approaches to celebrities like Victoria Beckham, Kate Middleton, Liz Hurley and others; Woolf's angle may prove nettlesome to readers eager for less judgment and more confidence boosting. Of particular interest is the author's presentation of a groundbreaking 1940s food deprivation study, the findings of which offered dramatic insights as to how starvation alters the body and the mind simultaneously. Vividly rendered and creatively explored, Woolf's text encourages nonconformity and individuality on many fronts, even as her burning query remains, "if being thin is the answer, what's the question?" Relevant, engrossing and sure to help liberate those in the throes of a weight battle or lifestyle crisis.

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April 1, 2014

In her follow-up to An Apple A Day, Woolf derides the food, health, exercise, beauty, and sex industries that create a world in which women hate their bodies. She discusses the proliferation of food programs on television, the ultra-high heels shoe craze, and the prevalence of cosmetic surgeries to fix imperfections. VERDICT While there seems to be no solution to easing society's mandates for women, awareness of the internalized messages from the media offers a good head start, and Woolf provides those insights. An excellent take on a universal "war" on women.

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