Susie Orbach famously acted as a therapist to Princess Diana and wrote Fat is a feminist issue. As well as this, she was one of the driving forces behind Dove's "real beauty" campaign of recent times. In this most recent book, Orbach has explored the changeable nature of our bodies in the 21st century. This includes the changes in BMI, the new surgeries available all over the world and the fight to look Western with eye surgeries in Asia, leg shortening procedures in Scandinavia and phalloplasties, which I'm sure I don't have to tell you about.
Through all of this new technology, Orbach confronts the reader to explore our relationships with our bodies. Through this, she demonstrates how the media has an influence on the way we view our own bodies. With evidence, including the amount of digitally manipulated images we see per day, Orbach makes it clear that we are underestimating the role of the media and the environment in these self-perceptions.
As usual, Orbach has provided a well-written and evidenced account that is both persuasive and thought provoking. I would have preferred if the book had been a bit longer or a bit more detailed, but as it was which was a relatively small book, it could serve well as part of a larger series.
I thoroughly recommend it.
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