It has nothing to do with willpower or discipline. Being overweight is a eating disorder, just as much as being underweight.Three things I learned from the book I didn’t know before (perhaps I was/am ignorant but here I am learning!): It is a way she finds balance and understanding in what has happened or is happening in her life. Her soul suffers, hence her body must too. Which is what Roxane does so well in her biography. It is important to think of the three as a whole. We forget that we are a combination of body, mind and soul. I often see in this world people focusing on one or the other – on either just fitness or just on their intellectual pursuits (that also includes office work that is mainly limited using your knowledge but not your body). Our mental well-being is also determined by our physical well-being.
We often tend to forget that we are not just minds, we are bodies too. Claiming that we don’t care how our body is shaped, how it moves or fits into the world is a lie. How we judge and measure our own bodies as a sign of worth or success. How we use food as a mood regulator, as a tool to manage our emotions and as a form of punishment. Roxane’s relationship with food and her body makes you reflect on your own relations with both. I was trapped in my body, one that I barely recognized or understood, but at least I was safe.” I tried to erase every memory of her, but she is still there, somewhere. I buried the girl I was because she ran into all kinds of trouble. “ I ate and ate and ate in the hopes that if I made myself big, my body would be safe.
It is not an easy read in the sense that the emotions beautifully portrayed by Roxane Gay are gripping and almost cut into your skin as you follow her on exploration about the relationship she has with her body. If you haven’t read it yet, be prepared as I was not. Thinking it would about the way the world criticizes a woman’s body, I was not ready for the complexity and profound insight the book would give me. Hunger By Roxane Gay is a biography that was recommended to me by a friend. Books are an investment in yourself, be it reading fiction, non-fiction or biographies, each will teach you something about life that you may have not considered or known before. It’s important to keep learning and growing.