Bordo Questions

"Hunger as Ideology" by Susan Bordo

Students usually have a strong response to Bordo's essay as well as the Jean Kilbourne video we viewed in class. I am sure we'll have a very lively discussion as we work through the issues presented through these two pieces. Before we begin to debate a scholar's ideas, it's important to have a good grasp on what the individuals is actually saying. Otherwise, we might end up wasting a lot of energy clarifying misconceptions rather than discussing and testing ideas. Most of the following questions are designed to help you understand Bordo's work, so try to answer these objectively. The questions at the end are meant to help you evaluate Bordo's argument. Your personal opinions and insights are in order here.

	According to Bordo, what happened in 80s and 90s to our cultural ideas about the ideal female and male bodies?
	How does Bordo answer the argument that images in advertising are not relevant to real life?
	Why do many women covet images of thinness, even when they know that such images are unattainable?
	What's the difference between how advertising depicts women's hunger and men's hunger?
	How, according to Bordo, does the media characterize women with passionate appetites?
	How does our ideas about the ideal mother make use of the issue of female hunger?
	What's the difference in how the media depicts men and women in the act of preparing food?
	What sense can you make of the quote Bordo takes from John Berger "Men act, and women appear"? See if you can think of an incident from a movie, book or your own life to illustrate this principal.
	On page 160, Bordo relates a personal anecdote. What's the purpose of including this example?
	What's the relationship between food and love for men? What's the relationship between food and love for women?
	What evidence does Bordo provide to argue that "The emotional comfort of self-feeding is rarely turned to in a state of pleasure and independence, but in despair, emptiness, loneliness and desperation" (165)?
	How does Bordo want her readers to adjust the way they read advertising images? What your response to this challenge?
	What does Bordo fail to see in the ads she studies? In other words, what do you find in the ads that she does not acknowledge?
	Look through a few magazines that you read routinely. Do the ads in that publication support Bordo's argument? Why or why not? Bring your ads to class to use in our discussion.