Numerous studies have elucidated how a multiplicity of contemporary western
cultural ideas and values that constitute `normal' femininity are enmeshed in
and central to the discursive production and regulation of girls' and women's
`eating disordered' subjectivities, bodies and body management practices. In
this article, we seek to build on that work by exploring how discursive
constructions of `the feminine' are articulated in nurses' accounts of nursing
in-patients diagnosed with `eating disorders'. We have used a feminist
post-structuralist, discourse analytic, interview-based methodology to explore
how gender and gender power-relations are articulated not only in constructions
of `eating disorders' and of those diagnosed as `eating disordered', but also in
constructions of nurses and their relationships with (and to) patients. Our
analysis illustrates how `the feminine' persistently appears and reappears as a
multiplicity of binarized gendered subject positions that constitute, delimit
and regulate `pathology', patients and nurses, suturing nurses and patients into
a matrix of dichotomously structured femininities and a complex circulation of
gender power-relations.
Benvenuto, B.
and
Kennedy, R.
(1986) The Works of Jacques Lacan: An Introduction.
London: Free Association Books
.
2.
Bordo, S.
(1990) `Reading the Slender Body', in
M. Jacobus
,
E. Fox Keller
and
S. Shuttleworth
(eds) Body/Politics: Women and the Discourses of Science, pp.
83—112.
London: Routledge
.
3.
Bordo, S.
(1991) `Docile Bodies, Rebellious Bodies: Foucauldian
Perspectives on Female Psychopathology', in
H.J. Silveman
(ed.) Writing the Politics of Difference.
New York: State University of New York Press
.
4.
Bordo, S.
(1992) `Anorexia Nervosa: Psychopathology as the
Crystallization of Culture', in
H. Crowley
and
S. Himmelweit
(eds) Knowing Women: Feminism and Knowledge. Cambridge and Oxford:
Polity Press
/
Open University Press
.
5.
Bordo, S.
(1993) Unbearable Weight: Feminism, Western Culture and the
Body.
Berkeley, CA: University of California Press
.
6.
Boskind-Lodahl, M.
(1976) `
Cinderella's Step-sisters: A Feminist Perspective on Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia
', Signs2(2):
342—56
.
7.
Braidotti, R.
(1991) Patterns of Dissonance: A Study of Women in
Contemporary Philosophy (trans. E. Guild).
Oxford: Polity Press
.
8.
Broverman, I.K.
,
Broverman, D.M.
,
Clarkson, F.E.
,
Rosenkrantz, P.S.
and
Vogel, S.R.
(1970) `
Sex-Role stereotypes and Clinical Judgments of Mental Health
', Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology34(1):
1—7
.
9.
Bruch, H.
(1974) Eating Disorders.
London: Routledge
.
10.
Brumberg, J.
(1988) Fasting Girls: The Emergence of Anorexia Nervosa as a
Modern Disease.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press
.
11.
Burman, E.
and
Parker, I.
(eds) (1993) Discourse Analytic Research: Repertoires and
Readings of Texts in Action.
London: Routledge
.
12.
Burns, M.
(2004a) `Constructing Bulimia: Implications for Subjectivity
and Practice', unpublished PhD Thesis,
University of Auckland
, New Zealand.
13.
Burns, M.
(2004b) `
Eating like an Ox: Femininity and Dualistic Constructions of Bulimia and Anorexia
', Feminism and Psychology14(2):
269—95
.
14.
Butler, J.
(1990) Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of
Identity.
London: Routledge
.
15.
Caplan, P.J.
(1990) `
Making Mother-blaming Visible: The Emperor's New Clothes', special issue on
`Motherhood: A Feminist Perspective
', Women and Therapy10(1—2):
61—70
.
16.
Ceci, C.
(2003) `
Midnight Reckonings: On a Question of Knowledge and Nursing
', Nursing Philosophy4:
61—76
.
17.
Chernin, K.
(1983) Womansize: The Tyranny of Slenderness.
London: Women's Press
.
Clement, C.
and
Cixous, H.
(1975) La jeune née.
Paris: UGE
, 10/18.
Concise Oxford English Dictionary (1984)
Oxford: Oxford University Press
.
20.
Crisp, A.H.
and
Bhat, A.V.
(1982)
`“Personality” and Anorexia Nervosa — the
Phobic Avoidance Stance: Its Origins and its Symptomatology'
, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics38(1—4):
178—200
.
21.
Crisp, A.H.
,
Hsu, L.K.
and
Stonehill, E.
(1979) `
Personality, Body Weight and Ultimate Outcome in Anorexia Nervosa', Journal ofClinical Psychiatry40(8)
332—5
.
22.
Davies, K.
(2003) `
The Body and Doing Gender: The Relations between Doctors and Nurses in
Hospital Work
', Sociology of Health and Illness25(7):
720—42
.
23.
De Beauvoir, S.
(1984[1953]) The Second Sex (trans. J.
Cape).
London: Penguin
.
24.
Derrida, J.
(1993[1978]) Writing and Difference (trans.
A. Bass).
London: Routledge
.
25.
Evans, J.
(1997) `
Men in Nursing: Issues of Gender Segregation and Hidden Advantage
', Journal of Advanced Nursing26:
226—31
.
26.
Fallon, P.
,
Katzman, M.A.
and
Wooley, S.C.
(eds) (1994) Feminist Perspectives on Eating Disorders.
London: Guilford
.
27.
Forman, Milos
(dir.) (1975) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. USA:
United Artists
.
28.
Foucault, M.
(1972) The Archaelogy of Knowledge.
New York: Pantheon
.
29.
Foucault, M.
(1979) The History of Sexuality: Vol 1.
Harmondsworth: Penguin
.
30.
Goldner, V.
(1989) `Generation and Gender: Normative and Covert
Hierarchies ', in
M. McGoldrick
,
C.M. Anderson
and
F. Walsh
(eds) Women in Families: A Framework for Family Therapy , pp.
42—61.
New York: Norton
.
31.
Grogan, S.
(1999) Body Image.
London: Routledge
.
32.
Gremillion, H.
(2002) `
In Fitness and in Health: Crafting Bodies in the Treatment of Anorexia Nervosa
', Signs27(2):
381—596
.
33.
Gremillion, H.
(2003) Feeding Anorexia: Gender and Power at a Treatment
Center.
Durham, NC: Duke University Press
.
34.
Hall, S.
(1996) `Introduction: Who Needs Identity?', in
S. Hall
and
P. du Gay
(eds) Questions of Cultural Identity, pp.
1—17.
London: Sage
.
35.
Halliwell, E.
,
Dittmar, H.
and
Howe, J.
(2005) `
The Impact of Advertisements Featuring Ultra-Thin or Average-Size Models on
Women With a History of Eating Disorders
', Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology15:
406—13
.
36.
Henriques, J.
,
Hollway, W.
,
Urwin, C.
,
Venn, C.
and
Walkerdine, V.
(1984) Changing the Subject: Psychology, Social Regulation
and Subjectivity.
London: Methuen
.
37.
Hepworth, J.
(1999) The Social Constuction of Anorexia Nervosa.
London: Sage
.
38.
Hepworth, J.
and
Griffin, C.
(1995) `Conflicting Opinions? “Anorexia
Nervosa”, Medicine and Feminism', in
S. Wilkinson
and
C. Kitzinger
(eds) Feminism and Discourse.
London: Sage
.
39.
Jagger, G.
(1996) `
Dancing with Derrida: Anti-essentialism and the Politics of Female Subjectivity
', Journal of Gender Studies5(2):
191—9
.
40.
Jordanova, L.
(1989) Sexual Visions: Images of Gender in Science and
Medicine between the Eighteenth and Twentieth Centuries.
London: Harvester Wheatsheaf
.
41.
Lacan, J.
(1982a) `The Meaning of the Phallus' (trans. J. Rose) ,
in
J. Mitchell
and
J. Rose
(eds) Feminine Sexuality: Jacques Lacan and the Ecole Freudienne,
pp. 74—85.
Basingstoke : Macmillan
.
42.
Lacan, J.
(1982b) `The Phallic Phase and the Subjective Import of the
Castration Complex', in
J. Mitchell
and
J. Rose
(eds) Feminine Sexuality: Jacque Lacan and the Ecole Freudienne,
pp. 99—122.
Basingstoke : Macmillan
.
43.
Lacan, J.
(1982c) `God and the Jouissance of The Woman: A Love Letter'
(trans. J. Rose), in
J. Mitchell
and
J. Rose
(eds) Feminine Sexuality: Jacques Lacan and the Ecole Freudienne,
pp. 137—61.
Basingstoke : Macmillan
.
44.
Lacan, J.
(1992[1977]) `Agency of the Letter in the
Unconscious or Reason since Freud, in Ecrits: A Selection
(trans. A Sheridan), pp. 146—78.
London: Routledge
.
45.
Lawrence, M.
(1984) The Anorexic Experience.
London : Women's Press
.
46.
Maisel, R.
,
Epston, D.
and
Borden, A.
(2004) Biting the Hand that Starves You: Inspiring Resistance
to Anorexia/Bulimia.
New York: Norton
.
47.
Malson, H.
(1997) `Anorexic Bodies and the Discursive Production of
Feminine Excess', in
J.M. Ussher
(ed.) Body Talk: The Material and Discursive Regulation of Sexuality,
Madness and Reproduction, pp. 223—45.
London: Routledge
.
48.
Malson, H.
(1998) The Thin Woman: Feminism, Post-structuralism and the
Social Psychology of Anorexia Nervosa.
London: Routledge
.
49.
Malson, H.
(1999) `
Womæn under Erasure: Anorexic Bodies in Postmodern Context
', Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology9:
137—53
.
50.
Malson, H.
and
Ussher, J.M.
(1997) `
Beyond this Mortal Coil: Femininity, Death and Discursive Constructions of
the Anorexic Body
', Mortality2(1)
43—61
.
51.
Malson, H.
,
Finn, D.M.
,
Treasure, J.
,
Clarke, S.
and
Anderson, G.
(2004) `
Constructing “the Eating Disordered Patient”: A
Discourse Analysis of Accounts of Treatment Experiences
', Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology14:
473—89
.
52.
Mangold, James
(dir.) (2000) Girl Interrupted. USA:
Columbia Pictures
.
53.
Minuchin, S.
,
Rosman, B.L.
and
Baker, L.
(1978) Psychosomatic Families: Anorexia Nervosa in
Context .
Cambridge, MA.: Harvard University Press
.
54.
Mitchell, J.
and
Rose, J.
(eds) (1982) Feminine Sexuality: Jacques Lacan and the Ecole
Freudienne.
Basingstoke: Macmillan
.
55.
Moi, T.
(1985) Sexual Textual Politics.
London : Routledge
.
56.
Moulding, N.
(2003) `
Constructing the Self in Mental Health Practice: Identity, Individualism
and the Feminization of Deficiency
', Feminist Review75(1):
57
.
57.
Orbach, S.
(1993) Hunger Strike.
Harmondsworth : Penguin
.
58.
Palazzoli, M.
(1985) Self-starvation: From Individual to Family Therapy in
the Treatment of Anorexia Nervosa.
New York: Aronson
.
59.
Phoenix, A.
,
Woollett, A.
and
Lloyd, E.
(eds) ( 1991) Motherhood: Meanings, Practices and
Ideologies.
London: Sage
.
60.
Potter, J.
(2003) `Discourse Analysis and Discursive Psychology',
in
P.M. Camic
,
J.E. Rhodes
and
L. Yardley
(eds) (2003) Qualitative Research in Psychology: Expanding
Perspectives in Methodology and Design.
Washington, DC: APA
.
61.
Potter, J.
and
Wetherell, M.
(1987) Discourse and Social Psychology.
London: Sage
.
62.
Probyn, E.
(1987) `The Anorexic Body', in
A. Kroker
and
M. Kroker
(eds) Body Invaders: Panic Sex in America.
New York: St Martins Press
.
63.
Riley, D.
(1988) Am I That Name? Feminism and the Category of
`Women ' in History.
Basingstoke: Macmillan
.
64.
Rose, J.
(1982) `Introduction II', in
J. Mitchell
and
J. Rose
(eds) Feminine Sexuality: Jacques Lacan and the Ecole Freudienne,
pp. 27—57.
Basingstoke: Macmillan
.
65.
Ryan, V.
(2004) `A Critical Psychological Investigation of Nurses'
Experiences, Understandings and Perspectives of Nursing Eating Disorder
Patients ', unpublished MA (Hons) thesis,
University of Western Sydney
, Australia.
66.
Ryan, V.
,
Malson, H.
,
Clarke, S.
,
Anderson, G.
and
Kohn, M.
(2004) `Discursive Constructions of “The Eating
Disorders Nurse”: An Analysis of Nurses' Accounts of Nursing Eating
Disorder Patients', unpublished manuscript,
University of Western Sydney
, Australia.
67.
Ryan, V.
,
Malson, H.
,
Clarke, S.
,
Anderson, G.
and
Kohn, M.
(2006) `
Discursive Constructions of “Eating Disorders
Nursing”: An Analysis of Nurses' Accounts of Nursing Eating
Disorder Patients
', European Eating Disorders Review14:
125—35
.
68.
Sayers, J.
(1990) `Psychoanalytic Feminism: Deconstructing Power in
Theory and Therapy', in
I. Parker
and
J. Shotter
(eds) Deconstructing Social Psychology,
pp.196—207.
London: Routledge
.
69.
Shaw, J.
(1995) `
Effects of Fashion Magazines on Body Dissatisfaction and Eating
Psychopathology in Adolescent and Adult Females
', Eating Disorders Review3(1):
15—23
.
70.
Sohlberg, S.
and
Strober, M.
(1994) `
Personality in Anorexia Nervosa: An Update and a Theoretical Integration
', Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica89 (Supplement 378):
16
.
71.
Swartz, L.
(1985) `
Anorexia Nervosa as a Culture-bound Syndrome
', Social Science and Medicine20(7):
725—30
.
72.
Turner, B.S.
(1992) Regulating Bodies: Essays in Medical Sociology .
London: Routledge
.
73.
Weatherall, A.
(1998) `
Re-visioning Gender and Language Research', Women andLanguage21(1):
1—9
.
74.
Wetherell, M.
(1986) `Linguistic Repertoires and Literary Criticism: New
Directions for a Social Psychology of Gender', in
S. Wilkinson
(ed.) Feminist Social Psychology.
Milton Keynes: OUP
.
75.
Weedon, C.
(1987) Feminist Practice and Post-structuralist Theory
.
Oxford: Blackwell
.
76.
Woolf, N.
(1990) The Beauty Myth.
London: Chatto and Windus
.
