ABSTRACT
One of the cruellest forms of attacking the body is to starve it, depriving it of the nutrition that it requires for life. It expresses violence towards the self. The object of hostility in this case is the woman’s own body, representing the mother’s body. As Welldon states:
In female perversion not only the whole body but also its mental representations are used to express sadism and hostility. Women express their perverse attitudes not only through but also towards their bodies, very often in a self-destructive way. If we look at the psychopathologies most frequently associated with women, we find syndromes of self-injury associated with biological or hormonal disorders affecting the reproductive functioning. Such is the case with anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and forms of self-mutilation, where the menses, their absence or their presence, may act as indicators of the pathological condition. These women experience a feeling of elation from the manipulation of their bodies when they are starving, and which disappears when they start to eat again. They experience a sense of power through being in control of the shapes and forms their bodies assume as a result of the physical injuries and abuse they inflict on themselves.
