"Feminist" dieting:
repackaging self-abuse

By Lisa MacDonald

Dieting, it seems (like the word chick), has been 'reclaimed.' Voluntary starvation by women is no longer the product of a severely sick society; it is empowering.

At least that's what many do-it-yourself feminists are saying. Their argument runs something like this:

'Once upon a time I was overweight. Every glimpse in the mirror, every reflection in my lover's eyes, was a blow to my self-esteem. I looked and felt bad, all the time.

'So I decided to do something about it, to take control of my life. I went on a diet. It was difficult, but I persevered. And I proved that I am strong.

'Having lost some weight, I feel so much better about myself. I feel healthier and I'm more confident. I've begun to assert myself as a woman. Dieting empowered me, helped me to be a better feminist. You should try it too.'

For those millions of women who have struggled -- personally and collectively -- against the beauty myth of female slimness, or who have battled or watched loved ones battle life-destroying eating disorders, this latest rationalisation for female self-abuse must be frightening.

Since when have permanent hunger pangs made a woman a better feminist? Since when has what you look like been more important for feminists than what you think and do? Since when has voluntary submission to the fantasies of the rich (often fat) men who own the Barbie doll factories and Penthouse magazine made women stronger feminists?

The answer is: since the power brokers in this sexist society realised that their efforts to re-enslave women following two decades of feminist resistance would be more successful if they could convince women that their enslavement is liberating.

The old messages haven't worked very well since the second wave of the women's liberation movement removed the beauty myth scales from masses of women's eyes. Women just won't buy the line any more that they should starve themselves to please the men in their lives. After decades of feminist consciousness raising, most women, especially young women, quite correctly take their right to economic, social and psychological self-determination as a given.

So the message has had to change. Now we are told: 'Don't do it for someone else, do it for yourself! It's fine to deprive yourself of sustenance, disguise yourself behind make-up, remove that `excess' hair, have silicon inserted into your lips and breasts, etc., so long as you are in control. Doing it for yourself, asserting your right as a woman to be a content and self-confident individual -- that's feminism, right?'

The problem for women is that a sexist stereotype (such as that the ideal woman is a size 8) remains a stereotype, however it is packaged. And stereotypes exist for a purpose. These utterly unreal ideals are fabricated and promoted to keep women spending their hard-earned cash on a plethora of products to try to achieve the unachievable. That this pursuit of 'perfection' renders masses of women ill -- physically and mentally -- is merely 'collateral damage' for the beauty myth profiteers.

Only men (as the sexual consumers) and the capitalists who sell the ideal and the products to achieve it are empowered in this process. If the stereotype didn't exist, women would have one less reason to feel inadequate, unconfident and powerless.

The way to reduce the damaging effect of stereotypes is, not to succumb to them and then rationalise this away as 'reclaiming', but to expose them, resist them every step of the way and join with others in campaigns to eradicate them altogether.

That struggle -- not the endless struggle to resist food -- is truly empowering because it gives women the courage and self-respect to say: 'No, I will not be conned by your backlash dressed up as feminism. My mind and my body are my own, and I am proud of them.'  That is being a feminist.

Lisa McDonald is a member of the Democratic Socialist Party of Australia. This article first appeared in Green Left Weekly <www.greenleft.org.au>