Speaking in Hunger

Female hunger and eating habits have long been regarded as a form of discourse, a rich and complex metaphoric language of victimization, physicality, eroticism, and empowerment. Feminist scholars acknowledge that women's ability to manipulate food distribution and their bodies (often the only resources in their power) can be a double-edged sword, a tool that allows women to repress their sexuality, to establish social rank, to engage in charitable activities, even while it forces them to accommodate physical victimization in order to empower themselves. I wish to argue that this seeming contradiction, often recognized as a mere displacement of power—a metaphoric equation of hunger with femininity, virginity, spiritualism, or class position—oversimplifies hunger as a language because it ignores the intricate ways in which this language is learned and shared.—from the Introduction