ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors argues that the imposition of normative femininity upon the female body requires training, that the modes of training are cultural phenomena properly described as “disciplinary practices,” and that the discipline they represent is disempowering to the woman so disciplined. She examines as well the profound ambiguity that femininity has for women: its seductiveness as well as the pain it causes and its hold on our very identities. The author offers dieting and skin care merely as examples of the disciplinary practices of femininity; the whole story would take too long to tell, and so she pass over in silence such things as manicure, pedicure, hair care, and exercise. Dieting disciplines the body’s hungers: appetite must be monitored at all times and governed by an iron will. Since the innocent need of the organism for food will not be foregone, one’s body becomes the enemy, an alien being bent on thwarting the disciplinary project.
