num_pages: 400
description: An acclaimed classic from the award-winning author of The Body Project presents a history of women's food-refusal dating back as far as the sixteenth century, providing compassion to victims and their families.Here is a tableau of female medieval martyrs who used starvation to demonstrate religious devotion, "wonders of science" whose families capitalized on their ability to survive on flower petals and air, silent screen stars whose strict "slimming" regimens inspired a generation. Here, too, is a fascinating look at how the cultural ramifications of the Industrial Revolution produced a disorder that continues to render privileged young women helpless. Incisive, compassionate, illuminating, Fasting Girls offers real understanding to victims and their families, clinicians, and all women who are interested in the origins and future of this complex, modern and characteristically female disease.
language: English
title: Fasting Girls: The History of Anorexia Nervosa
titlecomplete: Fasting Girls: The History of Anorexia Nervosa
genres: Historical, History, Feminism, Psychology, Womens, Mental Illness, Mental Health, Womens Studies, Food, Nonfiction
ratings_count: 1034
awards: awardedAt: 599644800000
name: John Hope Franklin Prize
publisher: Vintage