Starvation, Binging and Disorderly Eating in Global Women’s Writing

Abstract

Women’s relationship with food has been (mis)interpreted
since the very beginning of Western history, often erroneously equating
eating with shame, sin, and transgression. Therefore, writing about women’s
relationship with food and in particular on eating disorders and disorderly
eating in fiction, autobiographies and accounts is not simply about describing
the symptoms of these pathologies and the daily routine of the protagonists;
it also means writing about complex issues of identity and on the self, the female
body, social norms and behaviours and reflecting on women’s anxieties
towards their gender roles. As captured by this special issue of Quaderns de
filologia, the portrayal of eating disorders and disorderly eating in women’s
writing from around the world engages with these complex issues, and the
way women have discussed their anxieties towards identities and social roles
through their relationship with body and food.