Reviving Ophelia

Chapter 11 focuses on a problem that has persisted for adolescent girls across generations, from before Pipher’s time in the 1950s and 1960s until today: the idealization of thinness. It opens with an anecdote about Heidi, who came to Pipher in the 1990s for her bulimia addiction caused by pressure from gymnastics at age 15. Ultimately, Pipher deciphered that Heidi was running from a painful fear of rejection and explains that girls who have bulimia are often “impulsive and they experience themselves as chronically out of control” (227). This contrasts with anorexia, which involves a great deal of rigidity and perfectionism. Both result from a need for acceptance and to meet a culturally imposed weight standard that often poses serious health risks. Prudence, another teen suffering from bulimia, described school as “a breeding ground for eating disorders” (228), with every girl striving for perfection in their daily appearance. She was dealing with these expectations as well as unaddressed grief over the death of her brother by binging and purging.

Anorexia is another eating disorder that plagues young girls. Pipher describes it as a disorder of “starvation in the land of plenty” (231) and a protest against the beauty standards imposed on girls and women. It is a statement of bodily autonomy and control, one that claims that a girl can be even thinner than what society expects of them. Anorexia gives girls a sense of stability in a chaotic and changing environment. “Realizing that anorexia is not [their] friend but [their] enemy” is the most important and most challenging step in the healing process. Pipher helps girls raise their level of awareness of their thoughts and perceptions and how their friends, family, and media influence their perception of themselves.

Pipher also touches on the topic of compulsive eating, clarifying that compulsive eating is a way for women to cope with and process unanswered feelings and desires, such as the need for love, entertainment, or to avoid going to bed. She tells the story of Violet, an 18-year-old homeless girl who associated food with comfort and love and thus compulsively overate. Pipher concludes the chapter by reiterating the significance and impact of beauty standards on girls and women’s health and self-esteem; these issues are compounded by institutional flaws in the types of food Americans tend to consume. Despite this, Pipher points to uplifting trends in recent years toward body positivity, a budding resurgence in fitness, and political action against outrageous expectations.