The Body Project: An Intimate History of American Girls

Great little book. I teach women's history at a small community college. This is one of my textbooks. My students love it. They relate to many of the issues that women in the past and present had to deal with regarding their ideas about the female body. It's a quick easy read that examines the most personal details of womanhood. Topics include changing concepts of body image, physical beauty standards, menstruation, sexuality, and many other topics. Great book for moms and teenage daughters to share. Filled with anecdotal stories that help bring the history to life.

My daughter bought this book as she worked on a research project for a class. She had just finished a residential program followed by a intensive outpatient program for her eating disorder. I was so surprised that she was interested in tackeling this subject so soon after her treatment. She thought this book was really helpful and insightful for her research as well as her own recovery.

I need this book for a class. Subject matter was interesting.

Great quality of book. Very historical with small personal stories here and there. I would've liked more personal stories, though- the history part got a bit boring at times.

Brumberg's treatise on the changing mind of the young American woman is a historical journey that begins in the Victorian era and runs up to the present. Documented by extensive and fascinating quotations from genuine girl's diaries, the book presents as its central theme the idea that young women's sense of identity is now bound up almost completely in their bodies, rather than in their inner selves. Brumberg (a feminist historian at Cornell) discusses changing perceptions of menarche and menstruation, clothes, the body itself, and sexuality, arguing that the dramatic acceleration of physical development and social options in young girls has not been matched by an equal rise in their psychological development. She demonstrates that this disparity places young American girls at great risk personally, socially and (by implication, though not stated) morally.Brumberg's work is interesting and more than a little alarming. Though not many of her facts and figures are new to someone raised in the late 90s, they are certainly food for thought for a new father. Her morally confused stance on sexuality unfortunately allows her no space to do what she repeatedly insists must be done: save young women from their own immaturity and the predations of others. At the same time, she is surprisingly positive about the social institutions and good intentions of the Victorians and post-Victorians in attempting to support and protect young ladies. Also interesting but unfortunately underdeveloped is her repeated notice of the new role of the market forces involved in the coming of age of American girls. Overall worth reading especially for historical context but nothing here of dramatic insight as I had hoped.

This is a well written, and nicely researched book.It was very interesting. It was required for one of my classes, but I actually enjoyed reading it.

Ths book was boring to me. Too much history, not enough of current way of the western culture. It is really dating itself. I wasn't too interested, I never finished it.

This was my first Kindle purchase and went well. I needed this book for a college class and I needed it that minute because I forgot to order it with my textbooks. I read the book with my Asus tablet with the Kindle app; worked great.