Feminism remains a necessary conversation today. Though significant progress for gender equality has been made, society seems to always have a way of negatively critiquing women, particularly our physical attributes, in order to fit a certain standard. This is best illustrated in Roxane Gay’s memoir, Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body, where she delves deep into her personal struggles as a woman throughout her life, providing a near-perfect depiction of what it’s like to be a woman.
Here are four themes discussed within the book Hunger that I believe are clear elements of gender inequality.
- Food as a Coping Mechanism
-
In part one of her memoir, Gay vividly depicts the essence of her body in her early years, shamefully labelling her weight as morbidly obese, the medical term that left her feeling like an outsider. She turned to food as a way of coping with her feelings, enjoying the comfort of knowing she was safe from her thoughts as soon as she indulged. Gay believed that eating would create a shield of armour from the outside world.
“I ate and ate and ate in the hopes that if I made myself big, my body would be safe,” Gay reflected.
Emotional eating has a direct correlation with mental health. The compulsive need to eat to protect her well-being from the trauma she’s endured is a reflection of how poor society treats women who have experienced severe emotional distress without a reliable outlet for help.
It also raises major questions, including why Gay was encouraged to lose weight by medical professionals instead of addressing the root causes of those behaviours first. However, when she met with a doctor at the Cleveland Clinic in Florida, she was “weighed, measured, and quietly judged,” a perfect candidate for gastric bypass surgery, thus failing to receive the medical attention she truly needed.
- Victim Over Survivor Mindset
-
According to Sex Assault Canada, only 6 out of 100 sexual assault cases are disclosed to authorities. Sexual assault is a gender-based crime, with women having higher rates than men, as reported by the department of Justice and Research Data in the Government of Canada.
The injustice of sexual assault is the premise of Hunger, as Gay discloses her traumatic past that shaped her into the woman she is today. Instead of framing herself as a “survivor,” Gay justifiably prefers the label “victim” because even though what happened to her left a scar on her body, she’d rather make peace with it.
“I’m living with what happened, moving forward without forgetting, moving forward without pretending I am unscarred,” Gay wrote on page 21.
Sexual assault is a serious offence that many women have experienced. It’s not something that one can just overcome; it’s a lifelong incident that can drastically change the course of someone’s life, just like how Gay describes.
The inequality in the justice system against sexual assault victims is persistent in not providing adequate support to victims who need help. This is a severe problem that must be reevaluated within our justice systems.
Gay writes in Hunger, “A part of me was dead. A part of me was mute and would stay that way for many years.”
- Navigating Fatphobia in A Body-Obsessed Society
-
Gay describes thinness as a form of social currency. After being put on an all-liquid diet by her parents in the summer before her sophomore year of high school, Gay was met with admiration from fellow students at school. Receiving compliments left and right and experiencing attention from students she’d never talked to before, all because her body was meeting societal standards.
“I went back to school, and my classmates admired my new body, offered me compliments, wanted to hang out with me,” Gay explained.
Our body-conscious society has placed more value on a thin woman’s body than a larger one. It’s not about how smart you are or the quality of your mental health; it’s all about whether you fit the beauty standard. If you don’t, then you’re met with social neglect.
“Every day was a crushing disappointment or gauntlet of humiliation,” Gay recalled.
- Challenging Society with Self-Compassion
-
Just because a woman’s body fails to meet society’s standards doesn’t mean she lacks love for her body. It’s become natural for women to constantly criticize their bodies because they don’t conform to the trending style of “body type” that year.
But why do we equate the way we look to self-worth? Is it because society defines beauty this way or is it about being sexually appealing to men? Regardless, we are more than the skin we live in. Everyone deserves to love their body, irrespective of what society considers normal.
Gay brings this idea to life by emphasizing all that her body has endured, expressing gratitude for it. On page 74, she states, “I have tried to make peace with this body. I have tried to love or at least tolerate this body in a world that displays nothing but contempt for it.”
Women are in a never-ending battle with society. From the way we think to the way we look, women are constantly criticized to do better or look better.
Gay provides an insightful look into the life of a strong woman who experienced many hardships against society and continues to defy all social standards, a true role model for women. Her memoir reminds us of the need for self-compassion and challenges us to redefine our views on beauty, worth, and resilience.
Near the end of her memoir, Gay wrote, “The older I get, the more I understand that life is generally the pursuit of desires. We want and want and oh how we want. We hunger.”