Hunger pains are Powerful!

One important concept that I think Susan Bordo is trying to make is that still in today's eyes "femininity" can come from a woman being the dominant figure because they learn to nurture others and not themselves. So woman having eating disorders is almost justified in a way because that means that they just simply replaced their "selfish" appetite with the hunger to fulfill other's needs. A woman's power then comes from the ability to limit herself because she is there to satisfy anyone else but herself. Which is ridiculous! This then relates to Richard Leppert's ideas and art because as he explains, "female's nakedness is not expressive of her own feelings but is a sign of "her submission to the owner's feelings or demands."" He also then includes that if you look at artwork where the women are portrayed as being nude, you will either see that mostly the men in the image are clothed, or the image will not include men at all. So that then leaves the interpretation that men are outside the frame, looking at the woman in the picture. She is letting go again of her quote "selfish" feelings and succumbing to what needs to be done of her, fulfilling the needs of the one looking at her, which is fulfilling culture. Now while in the case of nude portraits, and eating disorders these instances are extremes, not every woman literally starves herself just so that her family will not go hungry that night for dinner. But the irony that women sometimes feel powerful because they give away their own beliefs and feelings so that other’s will be powerful is something that culture should be aware of. Strength should not come from the realization that you just made someone else feel good, but rather the realization that you made yourself feel good.