A climate of cultural war has taken shape, at least on social networks. The marches of women against Donald Trump, the publication of the allegations against the film producer Harvey Weinstein and the #MeToo movement (with its emulators such as the French #BalanceTonPorc or #Cuéntalo in Spain) have finally forced a taking of sides regarding feminism. This may seem an obvious truism but it is the goal of the Enlightenment and of liberalism, and of feminism in the most global sense. Differences of degree exist, but, despite all the possible nuances, the goal is to advance towards the most egalitarian society possible, in which all individuals are protected whatever their gender, ethnicity or other origin. However, it is not the same for an immigrant in France as for a senior executive, nor is it the same whether someone is transgender, homosexual or heterosexual. Obviously, the situation of women in Europe is infinitely better than that of women in Saudi Arabia – even though they can now drive a car. This affects many areas of life, and develops in different ways in different places. Through Gay’s honesty, wit, and unique voice, Hunger turns into more than a memoir–it becomes a beacon of truth.Feminism maintains that one half of the population should have the same rights and opportunities as the other half.
She doesn’t try to brush over her mistakes she explores them, tries to make sense of why she made them, even if they seem so personal that it’s hard to fathom how she was able to put it in a book.īut I’m glad she was brave enough to do so, because I think anyone who reads this book will be a better person by the time they turn the last page. But because she lay herself bare like that–all her faults and misgivings on every page–one truly feels a connection with Gay. These chapters were the hardest to read, because she looks at her past so unflinchingly that sometimes it becomes too overwhelming to imagine what she’s been through.
That’s an incredibly important thing for anyone struggling with self-worth–that what we see on TV is purposefully exploiting our insecurity to make money.īut perhaps the most affecting and most important chapters in Hunger are the ones she spends talking about herself–her trauma, her eating disorder, her mindset, her life when she was younger. The message, according to Gay, is this: “…even as we age, no matter what material successes we achieve, we cannot be happy unless we are also thin.” She has a knack for putting complicated, muddled issues into clear words that expose the unfairness behind them. She dissects the damaging messages behind shows like The Biggest Loser and commercials that advertise diets.
She put words to thoughts about unruly bodies and self-worth I didn’t know how to express.Īnother striking thing about this book is Gay’s discussion of how society views obese women, which she spends a fair few chapters on. I believe Gay’s biggest asset in this book is her use of language–she writes sentences like these that people can relate to, can connect to, on a deeper level. The fact that these poetic, deeply personal sentences showed up many times surprised me. “The story of my life is wanting, hungering, for what I cannot have, or, perhaps, wanting what I dare not allow myself to have,” Gay writes at one point.
My thoughts: In almost every chapter of Hunger, there was a moment when I had to pause and re-read a sentence–not because it was hard to understand, but because it was so profound that in order to grasp the full meaning of it, it needed to be repeated. I needed to feel like a fortress, impermeable.” “The fat created a new body,” she writes early on, “one that shamed me but one that made me feel safe, and more than anything, I desperately needed to feel safe.
Here’s a brief overview: In Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body, Roxane Gay explores with unflinching honesty the story behind her body–why it looks the way it does, how her childhood and trauma shaped it, and the dangerous ways society enforces the connection between thinness and self-worth. Who knew? Anyway, today I’ll be reviewing Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay. Turns out that life is very unsympathetic to people who just want to read and do nothing else. Hello readers! I know, I know, it’s been about a month since I last updated (whoops).