The Thin Woman provides an in-depth discussion of anorexia nervosa from a feminist social psychological standpoint. Medicine, psychiatry and psychology have all presented us with particular ways of understanding eating disorders, yet the notion of 'anorexia' as a medical condition limits our understanding of anorexia and the extent to which we can explore it as a socially, discursively produced problem.
Based on original research using historical and contemporary literature on anorexia nervosa, and a series of interviews with women diagnosed as anorexic, The Thin Woman offers new insights into the problem. It will prove useful both to those with an interest in eating disorders and gender, and to those interested in the new developments in feminist post-structuralist theory and discourse analytic research in psychology.

Helen Malson is a lecturer in psychology at the University of East London and has previously authored a number of journal articles and book chapters on the subject.

INTRODUCTION Tales of thin women; A rough guide to anorexia nervosa; Culture and gender in anorexia nervosa; Towards a reformulation of 'anorexia' Part I Towards a feminist post-structuralist perspective 1 THEORIZING WOMEN: DISCOURSING GENDER, SUBJECTIVITY AND EMBODIMENT 2 DISCOURSE, FEMINISM, RESEARCH AND THE PRODUCTION OF TRUTH Part II Instituting the thin woman: the discursive productions of 'anorexia nervosa'3 A GENEALOGY OF 'ANOREXIA NERVOSA' 4 DISCOURSING ANOREXIAS IN THE LATE TWENTIETH CENTURY Part III Women's talk? Productions of the anorexic body in popular Discourse 5 THE THIN/ANOREXIC BODY AND THE DISCURSIVE PRODUCTION OF GENDER 6 SUBJECTIVITY, EMBODIMENT AND GENDER IN A DISCOURSE OF CARTESIAN DUALISM 7 ANOREXIA AND THE DISCURSIVE PRODUCTION OF THE SELF 8 DISCURSIVE SELF-PRODUCTION AND SELF[1]DESTRUCTION