Dr. Sara DiazWGST 202: Gender, Difference, and PowerGonzaga University

Women’s Bodies

Discussion – Garland-Thomson

• How does Rosemarie Garland Thompson undermine negative stereotypes of women with disabilities? • How do stereotypes of women with

disabilities deny their sexuality? • How does this affect their access to

reproductive healthcare?

Pathologizing Women’s Bodies

Pathologize – to define something as a pathology or sickness.

Women’s Bodies Pathologized

• Body types that conform to norms of beauty/health are preferred. • Other body types are shamed and some are even

pathologized.• Some bodies that cannot conform are considered sick• Too Fat• Too Short• Too old• Neurologically different• Differently formed• Non-reproductive• Gender Non-conforming

Women : Disabled Men

• BUT, as Garland-Thompson argued, all women’s bodies fail to conform to the male standard.

• In this way all women’s bodies are pathologized.

• How do we pathologize women’s bodies?

Women & Size

• Weight discrimination as prevalent as racism (Puhl et al. 2008)• Stigmatizing fatness affects women of all sizes• Eating disorders on the rise since 1950

• No-win situation for women:• Thin-shaming• Fat-shaming

• Two sides of the same coin: Body Policing

Facts about Dieting and ED• 40-60% of elementary school girls (ages 6-12) are concerned about their

weight or about becoming too fat. This concern endures through life (Smolak, 2011).

• 35% of “normal dieters” progress to pathological dieting. Of those, 20-25% progress to partial or full-syndrome eating disorders (Shisslak, Crago, & Estes, 1995).

• 95% of all dieters will regain their lost weight in 1-5 years (Grodstein, Levine, Spencer, Colditz, &Stampfer, 1996; Neumark-Sztainer, Haines, Wall, & Eisenberg, 2007).

• Even among clearly non-overweight girls, over 1/3 report dieting (Wertheim et al., 2009).

• 91% of women surveyed on a college campus had attempted to control their weight through dieting. 22% dieted “often” or “always.”(Shisslak et al. 1995)

Health and ED

• Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness.• Risks:• Osteoporosis• Damage to teeth/oral health• Kidney damage• Electrolyte imbalances• Peptic Ulcers• Pancreatitis• Type 2 Diabetes

NIH Research Funds (2011)

Alzheim

er's

Autism

Schizo

phrenia

Eating D

isord

ers $-

$10.00 $20.00 $30.00 $40.00 $50.00 $60.00 $70.00 $80.00 $90.00

$100.00 $88.00

$44.00

$81.00

$0.93

$ Spent/ Affected Person

$/person

Facts about Health• You can’t tell anything about a persons health by looking at

them.• What other measure’s of health do we use?• Metabolic health• Cardiovascular fitness

• Healthy Habits Study• Meso/Macro level Obstacles to Health• Lack of time/space• Food desserts• Lack of access to healthcare• Stigmatization• Social Inequality -> Health Disparities

Healthy Habits

0 1 2 3 40

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Ideal Overweight Obese

Number of Healthy Habits

Haz

ard

Ratio

Healthy Habits• Don’t Smoke• Drink in moderation• Eat >5 Fruits and Vegetables a Day• Exercise 3 times/week

Response Question

According to Chernik, how are eating disorders related to women's lack of social and political power?

What solutions does Chernik offer to take back that power?

Power & The Body

•What conclusions can we draw based about the place of the body in our social order?