Notice that they call it the desire to "look good" as opposed to the desire to "be skinny". Hmmmmmmm...

The title is an absolute mystery to me, as well. Near the end of the interview:

"Guys say porn has nothing to do with their real desires with real women. I can’t quite swallow that theory."

Of all the synonyms for "accept" one could have picked at that moment!

My anticipation for the arrival of my copy of the book continues! My local bookseller will have mine in soon. (I'm in Canada, so it's taking a little longer.)

I'm glad someone from our generation of women is talking about this stuff, and it's good to see the major newsmedia paying attention. Now if only they'd stop picking such sensational (and really irrelevant) titles.

Looking forward to having time to read this book cover to cover . . . in the meantime, thanks for the link!

So this generation of supermoms raised supergirls who learned to muscle through exhaustion and any authentic signals from their bodies that they need to slow down.

I am wary of drawing a straight line from mothers to daughters on this issue. Individual lives are so varied. My mom, a 1970s feminist (though not particularly active in the movement), has built a pretty sane life for herself--made possible, I realize, by a really solid marriage partnership. She and my Dad consistantly tried to build a family life that rejected hyper-achievement at the expense of leisure and relationships. She never pushed us to be "supergirls." But my sister (now 19) is really struggling with the internalized demand that she be "perfect." When I was in college I also had to come to terms with my human imperfection. Yet I don't think either of us would point to our parents expectations as the primary cause. Far from cultivating or even modeling perfectionism in us, my parents actively tried to encourage and model for us a more holistic, laid-back life.

I think people have overlooked how closely linked the ways we treat sex in this culture and the way we treat food. Both are forbidden for young women on the one hand, but both are totally pushed in their faces.

Great observation, that I look forward to delving into when I make time to read the book!

. . .the quest for perfection is joyless and boring.

I'd just like to say "amen!" I remember a professor telling me when I was about the age my sister is now, "You just need to learn to forgive yourself for being human." I wasn't ready to hear that at that point, but it gradually sunk in . . . with lots of reinforcement from the many mentors I've had. Particularly with food/weight issues, I remember almost consciously deciding that it just wasn't worth spending a huge portion of my time and energy thinking and worrying about food. I have so many other things I want to spend my time doing! So while I think it's important to make time to take care of myself, feed myself well, exercise my body . . . I don't want that to be the make-or-break focus of my days.

And, finally: "How Feminism Got Corrupted"??? As far as I'm concerned, everything about our current culture of perfectionism and lookism is a direct contradiction of feminism. People who get the "superwoman" message from feminism are buying the media backlash narrative, not what actual feminists are saying.

Here's the one thing I had a little trouble with:
"My generation is the hip-hop generation, and in terms of music, the only presence women have is as a body. If you get into rap, you end up having to objectify yourself."

I know this has been said a million times, but why do we always focus on hiphop and ignore the misogyny and male domination of all our other popular genres of music? (Cue the Toby Keith girlfriend-murdering joke song) How many musical genres, period, involve female musicians? And how many of those female musicians are singer/dancers known for their bodies more than their music, and scrutinized with news stories for every pound gained and lost? (Britney?) And, of the non-objectified instrument-playing female musicians you were able to count (Tori Amos, Ani DiFranco), how many of THEM are in mainstream culture? And how many of them have been derided as angry, bitchy, whiny, whatever, for expressing a feminist perspective?

Hmm. I don't find the title surprising. What she talks about reminds me of how in the 80's women were encouraged to go prove they could balance fabulous careers with fabulous families, all while looking like supermodels.

I thought that WAS feminism as a kid, before I was old enough to understand that was just a pop culturalization of feminism. The person who titled the piece might not understand it any better.

Or they may just be looking to blame feminism. That's pretty likely.

Whoa the hip hop generation paragraph was out of line. Look at Britney Spears and EVERY female pop star that young women are programmed to look up to. Objectified TO THE HILT.

How Feminism Got Corrupted? A better title would be As Usual, Women Changed, Men Did Not. Because women are pressured to succeed outside and inside the home. Men are not pressured to be perfect inside the home.