Women's Body Talk: A Feminist Narrative Approach

Abstract

The cultural discourse of self-management is arguably a significant influence on women's efforts to control and manage their bodies. Within it, self-restraint and control are considered definitive of personal success and are enacted through the body by strict eating and exercise practices. It is argued that these cultural influences not only shape eating disorders, they also paradoxically shape their treatment. This article argues that traditional treatments and theories, which rely upon an individualistic self-management discourse, perpetuate women's existing problematic focus on these behaviors. We propose that feminist and narrative therapy can be combined as an alternative approach to understanding and working with eating disorders. From a feminist approach we emphasize women's conformity and resistance to gender scripts of self-regulation alongside the narrative postmodern sensibility of living storied lives.