My review of Courtney E. Martin's amazing non-fiction book, Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters: How the Quest for Perfection Is Harming Young Women, is up over at Feminist Review.
Who doesn’t want to be perfect? We’re bombarded by images of perfection every day. Mothers are expected to work full-time, do more than their fair share of housework, volunteer for PTA fundraisers, and dazzle everyone at the local bake sale with their homemade peanut butter cookies. Our celebrities aren’t just actresses or singers anymore; now they do both, while simultaneously designing their own clothing line and serving as goodwill ambassadors to third world countries. Young girls are encouraged to get straight A’s, serve as student council president, play on the tennis team, and get perfect SAT scores. And every one of us is supposed to achieve these feats effortlessly, moving gracefully through life in stiletto heels and a perfect size six dress. According to Courtney E. Martin, author of Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters: How the Quest for Perfection is Harming Young Women, these expectations—whether they are from young girls' parents, from the media, or self-inflicted—have created a breeding ground for eating disorders among young women in America.
This book really made me think. I highly recommend it for anyone who has struggled with disordered eating or who has struggled with the idea that they have to be perfect.
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