We are creating concepts for entirely benign, painless, harmless bodily variations—and with them, a lucrative market. This “hermeneutical baggage,” as we might call it, serves nobody. Save capitalism.
I was thinking about this when reading about cellulite: people talk about it almost like a medical condition (in Italy lotions meant to "cure" it are sold in pharmacies, in packaging that doesn't look like cosmetics), so it was particularly liberating for me to read how there was no concept of cellulite being a thing before there were people selling treatments about it. The idea of creating a need that a product can meet is, I guess, normal marketing practice, what feels special about these "Bodily Non-Problems with a Name" is, to me, that shame is a dominant part of the picture. What I used to do when friends complain to me about their cellulite, or their "hip dip" or their double chin, was denying ("No! You don't have that!") or moving the focus onto me ("Don't worry, I have it more!"). What I try to do now --and to repeat to myself-- is not engaging ("There is no such thing as a double chin, it's just called chin"). It feels a bit like a lack of validation, so I think the important nuance is to shift the attention to the real cause of the distress: the pain feel is real but double chin is not the reason, given that it does not exist as a problem.
This is not a profound reflection... but it had never occurred to me before to wonder why a "widow's peak" is called that and a little light Google tells me that it used to be considered a sign that a woman who had one would outlive her husband. I guess I'd better go break the news to my husband...
Thank you for naming this phenomenon. I am old, so the first time I remember this happening, when a functional part of my body was given a derogatory widely recognized name, was with cankles. Since then I’ve seen many others, and Body Flaws Social Media seems to generate them endlessly, but the one I remember being most hilariously perplexed and offended by was the advent of teeth whitening. The idea that *an exposed part of your skeleton used as a tool* needed to look pristine and unused was just … I still kinda can’t get over it. Aside from the really obvious white = purity problem there, I can’t help but believe this one is largely a thing because teeth that show use are effectively evidence of having eaten food, and everyone knows mouths are just for smiling.
This bares a striking resemblance to the ways trans women tend to police our own bodies. It's a thin line between an exertion of autonomy and an effort to pathologize harmless bodily differences and I'll confess to struggling with where to draw the line for myself. I think many express this difference in terms of dysphoria vs. dysmorphia but it seems more shared across cis/trans experiences than that divide suggests.
I'm 47 and only started deconstructing my own internalized misogyny about 5 years ago, not coincidentally when I separated from my ex-husband. I'm an avid reader of DeFino & McMillan Cottom's work as well as yours (and many other feminists on this journey) and y'all have simultaneously demolished me and helped me build back cell by cell with a deep understanding of our toxic culture and how it harms every single last thought we have about ourselves. It's crushing and necessary work; crushing because even when you do the deep work on yourself, we still have to live in this culture and face it every single day. It's friggen exhausting at times, yet I've also never felt more acceptance and love for myself and every womxn. I've stopped so much "beauty" BS; one thing I really love now is doing my own mani-pedi, I never wear polish anymore so it's easy to keep them natural, it's part of my self-love/care routine now, and my nails have never been healthier!! We can love ourselves more, be radically natural, and far healthier. Thank you Kate, genuinely, your words are a salve; whenever I'm feeling angry at the misogynistic patriarchy I know I can find comfort and understanding in your books (which are dog-eared, highlighted, and referred to endlessly).
This made me think of the “thigh gap,” a pop culture obsession several years ago that seemed to be tied to particular fashion trends: skinny jeans, yoga pants?
But in that case, what quickly became clear was that the so-called “thigh gap” actually had little to do with fatness or fitness but rather with what is really truly just the shape of different people’s bodies.
(It somehow reminds me of JFK’s “missile gap” with the Soviet Union. As if the thigh gap were not somehow a personal problem, but a national deficit that might threaten a drop in GDP.)
Yep! I've always had these square hips and remember doing exercises to make them into the "feminine ones" that I was the only one cursed not to have. Fast forward to a back problem where I needed to improve my glute muscles. I don't follow influencers but there is a physical trainer that I was watching (he has a PhD) that was commenting on how weird it was that influencers were advising women on how to get these hourglass backsides and not "ugly butt" when that shape is the normal shape. If you have the hourglass that means a section of your glutes is under developed. Why would anyone promote purposefully under developing a muscle? It isn't an "ugly butt" but a normal butt tyvm. So I've had that for half a century and only now found out I've been normal all along! Another a-ha moment for me was seeing the picture of a wide range of Olympic athletes' bodies side-by-side. It's a huge variety! I think this is where I heard - you don't pick the sport, the sport picks you because your body type fits what that sport requires to be good at it.
This morning! in my favorite kickboxing class at my small local YMCA. The teacher is a 30-year-old former cheerleader with three kids. She taught all the way through her pregnancies without skipping a beat. Normatively beautiful, unbelievably fit. Announced to us that she’ll be out next month to get breast implants. Being pregnant made her decide to go bigger. Since I’ve never had kids I’m flummoxed and have been laugh/crying about it all day. Talk about a non-problem!!! This woman really is the whole package and is absolutely lovely—but. I realize my own privilege bubble: people in my own social group aren’t getting implants, so I can be judgmental from a distance. It’s all very very sad, isn’t it.
Though I certainly agree with all of these other derogatory terms, “rib flare” is in fact typically indicative of a breathing dysfunction — a mechanical issue, rather than simply an aesthetic issue that doesn’t fall into the societal norm. Rib flare is typically related to a shallow breathing pattern — this is super common for women especially b/c we are so culturally conditioned to sucking in and trying to appear smaller. So, for sure, the cause of rib flare probably stems from a societal obsession with thinness… however the resulting rib flare itself might indeed be something worth looking into. Re-training your breathing and aiming for a deeper 360 diaphragmatic breath has so many incredible benefits WAY beyond any aesthetic reasons…. Just something to share from a personal trainer + movement coach. xo
Great article and very thought provoking. And now I can add “hermeneutical injustice” and “hermeneutical baggage” to my mental concept bank. Your article is also making me think of terms like “white privilege” which, to me, is a helpful term for thinking about intergenerational equity but is perceived as a direct threat by others. Is there a sort of “hermeneutical backlash” when something is named that exposes an inequity? And should this backlash be taken into account when naming such concepts? Not to make it easier or more comfortable for those with the power, but to make it more likely for the concept to be constructively used in a society?
Anyway, see, I meant it when I said your article was thought provoking!
Whatever Friedan's failings, she wasn't afraid to say that pornography and hyper-sexualization were harmful to women's perception of their own bodies.
Noticing that women are being asked to make ridiculous and harmful modifications of their bodies is a symptom. Naming a symptom is not the same as naming the underlying pathology of why so many women today are deeply unhappy with their bodies.
I was thinking about this when reading about cellulite: people talk about it almost like a medical condition (in Italy lotions meant to "cure" it are sold in pharmacies, in packaging that doesn't look like cosmetics), so it was particularly liberating for me to read how there was no concept of cellulite being a thing before there were people selling treatments about it. The idea of creating a need that a product can meet is, I guess, normal marketing practice, what feels special about these "Bodily Non-Problems with a Name" is, to me, that shame is a dominant part of the picture. What I used to do when friends complain to me about their cellulite, or their "hip dip" or their double chin, was denying ("No! You don't have that!") or moving the focus onto me ("Don't worry, I have it more!"). What I try to do now --and to repeat to myself-- is not engaging ("There is no such thing as a double chin, it's just called chin"). It feels a bit like a lack of validation, so I think the important nuance is to shift the attention to the real cause of the distress: the pain feel is real but double chin is not the reason, given that it does not exist as a problem.
This is not a profound reflection... but it had never occurred to me before to wonder why a "widow's peak" is called that and a little light Google tells me that it used to be considered a sign that a woman who had one would outlive her husband. I guess I'd better go break the news to my husband...
Thank you for naming this phenomenon. I am old, so the first time I remember this happening, when a functional part of my body was given a derogatory widely recognized name, was with cankles. Since then I’ve seen many others, and Body Flaws Social Media seems to generate them endlessly, but the one I remember being most hilariously perplexed and offended by was the advent of teeth whitening. The idea that *an exposed part of your skeleton used as a tool* needed to look pristine and unused was just … I still kinda can’t get over it. Aside from the really obvious white = purity problem there, I can’t help but believe this one is largely a thing because teeth that show use are effectively evidence of having eaten food, and everyone knows mouths are just for smiling.
This bares a striking resemblance to the ways trans women tend to police our own bodies. It's a thin line between an exertion of autonomy and an effort to pathologize harmless bodily differences and I'll confess to struggling with where to draw the line for myself. I think many express this difference in terms of dysphoria vs. dysmorphia but it seems more shared across cis/trans experiences than that divide suggests.
I'm 47 and only started deconstructing my own internalized misogyny about 5 years ago, not coincidentally when I separated from my ex-husband. I'm an avid reader of DeFino & McMillan Cottom's work as well as yours (and many other feminists on this journey) and y'all have simultaneously demolished me and helped me build back cell by cell with a deep understanding of our toxic culture and how it harms every single last thought we have about ourselves. It's crushing and necessary work; crushing because even when you do the deep work on yourself, we still have to live in this culture and face it every single day. It's friggen exhausting at times, yet I've also never felt more acceptance and love for myself and every womxn. I've stopped so much "beauty" BS; one thing I really love now is doing my own mani-pedi, I never wear polish anymore so it's easy to keep them natural, it's part of my self-love/care routine now, and my nails have never been healthier!! We can love ourselves more, be radically natural, and far healthier. Thank you Kate, genuinely, your words are a salve; whenever I'm feeling angry at the misogynistic patriarchy I know I can find comfort and understanding in your books (which are dog-eared, highlighted, and referred to endlessly).
This made me think of the “thigh gap,” a pop culture obsession several years ago that seemed to be tied to particular fashion trends: skinny jeans, yoga pants?
But in that case, what quickly became clear was that the so-called “thigh gap” actually had little to do with fatness or fitness but rather with what is really truly just the shape of different people’s bodies.
(It somehow reminds me of JFK’s “missile gap” with the Soviet Union. As if the thigh gap were not somehow a personal problem, but a national deficit that might threaten a drop in GDP.)
Yep! I've always had these square hips and remember doing exercises to make them into the "feminine ones" that I was the only one cursed not to have. Fast forward to a back problem where I needed to improve my glute muscles. I don't follow influencers but there is a physical trainer that I was watching (he has a PhD) that was commenting on how weird it was that influencers were advising women on how to get these hourglass backsides and not "ugly butt" when that shape is the normal shape. If you have the hourglass that means a section of your glutes is under developed. Why would anyone promote purposefully under developing a muscle? It isn't an "ugly butt" but a normal butt tyvm. So I've had that for half a century and only now found out I've been normal all along! Another a-ha moment for me was seeing the picture of a wide range of Olympic athletes' bodies side-by-side. It's a huge variety! I think this is where I heard - you don't pick the sport, the sport picks you because your body type fits what that sport requires to be good at it.
This morning! in my favorite kickboxing class at my small local YMCA. The teacher is a 30-year-old former cheerleader with three kids. She taught all the way through her pregnancies without skipping a beat. Normatively beautiful, unbelievably fit. Announced to us that she’ll be out next month to get breast implants. Being pregnant made her decide to go bigger. Since I’ve never had kids I’m flummoxed and have been laugh/crying about it all day. Talk about a non-problem!!! This woman really is the whole package and is absolutely lovely—but. I realize my own privilege bubble: people in my own social group aren’t getting implants, so I can be judgmental from a distance. It’s all very very sad, isn’t it.
Free to read.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/26/nyregion/weight-discrimination-law-nyc.html?unlocked_article_code=HNiZNjbxB3u7JKsw4ctMegKWN_r7FBsPSBat8fjeWhTiYvVasyiDbT0pNaZZmMXw_KTCgwIjHWzf_ohCww-olrVg61nQjV9KuAwJ0CJ82zAtqqvxqutpIXMIqaRWq7csphGaV0-waBZzBpNwP9zIGKqhuA9vsj_MXlhNdroy71hMeNIAGQ4Ae2iGKnahlKcN7MdGVLHYLvchiXvpNkmCbcJezQ_kxI37WsMDkSVwNKm5p5g2BPksjPMD_uw4AK6-HZO7DTaJgqWM46bwtwtw98IH9V8PJ0W2pJ9gg3uJYgA27jbgQWD430Ghaxmk_tAcyF86quDsu6UglYNIuAf4EY7UOEACQ07PpQ&smid=url-share
Though I certainly agree with all of these other derogatory terms, “rib flare” is in fact typically indicative of a breathing dysfunction — a mechanical issue, rather than simply an aesthetic issue that doesn’t fall into the societal norm. Rib flare is typically related to a shallow breathing pattern — this is super common for women especially b/c we are so culturally conditioned to sucking in and trying to appear smaller. So, for sure, the cause of rib flare probably stems from a societal obsession with thinness… however the resulting rib flare itself might indeed be something worth looking into. Re-training your breathing and aiming for a deeper 360 diaphragmatic breath has so many incredible benefits WAY beyond any aesthetic reasons…. Just something to share from a personal trainer + movement coach. xo
Great article and very thought provoking. And now I can add “hermeneutical injustice” and “hermeneutical baggage” to my mental concept bank. Your article is also making me think of terms like “white privilege” which, to me, is a helpful term for thinking about intergenerational equity but is perceived as a direct threat by others. Is there a sort of “hermeneutical backlash” when something is named that exposes an inequity? And should this backlash be taken into account when naming such concepts? Not to make it easier or more comfortable for those with the power, but to make it more likely for the concept to be constructively used in a society?
Anyway, see, I meant it when I said your article was thought provoking!
Whatever Friedan's failings, she wasn't afraid to say that pornography and hyper-sexualization were harmful to women's perception of their own bodies.
Noticing that women are being asked to make ridiculous and harmful modifications of their bodies is a symptom. Naming a symptom is not the same as naming the underlying pathology of why so many women today are deeply unhappy with their bodies.
https://newsliteracymatters.commons.gc.cuny.edu/wp-content/blogs.dir/8164/files/2022/12/I-Didnt-Want-It-to-Be-True-but-the-Medium-Really-Is-the-Message-by-Ezra-Klein-The-New-York-Times.pdf
I realize this is tangential, but #DeleteFacebook FTLOG
Big pharma, capitalism, why doesn’t this apply to the gender market as well? That’s also a body image issue?