具体描述
"A highly unique and refreshing contribution. Heywood not only theorizes the relationships among feminism, activism, and bodybuilding but also provides what so many works on built female bodies lack-a feminine historical context. . . . Heywood concludes with a call for women to 'feel our muscles, our power, our terrible, wonderful, monstrous strengths' by leaving behind aerobics, replacing light weights with heavy ones, and claiming our right to take up space. . . . Like all influential and groundbreaking works, this book raises new and important questions that should provide grist for much feminist debate and scholarship in coming years."-Signs "Bodymakers is most ambitious in terms of its engagement with feminist cultural criticism and its unconventional scope. Heywood comments on film, novels, magazine pictures, popular criticisms of feminism, the J. Crew catalog, [and] the concept of power feminism."-Gender and Society "In this brilliantly insightful and immensely readable book, Leslie Heywood makes us think about women's body building in an entirely new way. She argues persuasively that, far from being an individualistic, apolitical act, it is a powerful form of resistance, empowering women to overcome their victim status and heal past abuse." -Myra Dinnerstein, University of Arizona "Bodymakers has a power and an honesty that is unusual in a book with its theoretical sophistication." -Susan Bordo, author of Unbearable Weight and Twilight Zones: The Hidden Life of Cultural Images from Plato to O.J. "With clarity, force, and passionate investment grounded in both theory and her own experience, Heywood understands that women can strengthen body, mind, and spirit through everyday practice. Her argument that body building is this kind of activist practice is as inspirational as it is poignant." -Joanna Frueh, author of Erotic Faculties "Flexing her muscles through autobiographical, theoretical, and spectacular acts, Heywood insists that we read the muscular female body not as an 'extreme oddity' but as a 'form of activism' through which we can understand anew larger cultural issues and trends, including the American romance with individualism and the relationship of second and third wave feminisms. Muscular female bodies will never be read in the same way again." -Sidonie Smith, University of Michigan Women with muscles are a recent phenomenon, so recent that, while generating a good deal of interest, their importance to the cultural landscape has yet to be acknowledged. Leslie Heywood looks at the sport and image of female body building as a metaphor for how women fare in our current political and cultural climate. She argues that the movement in women's body building from small, delicate bodies to large powerful ones and back again is directly connected to progress and backlash within the abortion debate, the ongoing struggle for race and gender equality, and the struggle to define "feminism" in the context of the nineties. She discusses female body building as activism, as an often effective response to abuse, race and masculinity in body building, and the contradictory ways that photographers treat female body builders. Engaging and accessible, Bodymakers reveals how female body builders find themselves both trapped and empowered by their sport.
作者简介
Leslie Heywood is Professor of English and Creative Writing at SUNY-Binghamton, where she was a 2009 recipient of the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Research and Creative Activities. Interdisciplinary in focus, her areas are creative writing, gender studies, sport studies, science studies, and environmental studies.
目录信息
读后感
用户评价
《Bodymakers》这本书，简直就是一本关于“存在”的百科全书，而且是以一种最直接、最触及灵魂的方式来呈现。我一开始是被它颇具力量感的书名所吸引，以为会是一部关于力量、关于改变的书，而事实也确实如此，但它所探讨的“力量”和“改变”，远超出了物理层面的范畴。书中有一个篇章，讲述了一位母亲在经历巨大创伤后，如何通过照顾新生儿，重新找回身体的掌控感，并从中获得治愈。她抱着婴儿的那种柔软而坚韧的姿态，让我感受到了生命最原始的母性力量。作者的文字非常有画面感，他能够用最简洁的语言勾勒出最深刻的场景。我非常喜欢书中关于运动员如何通过日复一日的训练，将自己的身体打造成能够完成不可思议动作的“机器”的描写。这种描绘，不仅仅是关于肌肉的堆积和技术的磨练，更是关于意志的锻造，关于对自我极限的不断超越。它让我理解到，真正的“Bodymakers”不仅仅是那些拥有健美身材的人，更是每一个在生活中，用自己的方式去“塑造”自己，去“塑造”世界的人。这本书让我对“身体”有了全新的理解，它不再是那个被动接受的容器，而是主动创造的画布。
这本《Bodymakers》的书名真是太吸引人了，一开始我以为会是一本关于健身塑形的指南，结果翻开目录才发现，它讲述的远不止于此。作者以一种极其细腻且富有感染力的方式，描绘了那些塑造身体，也同样塑造灵魂的故事。我特别喜欢其中一个章节，讲述了一位老木匠如何通过几十年如一日的雕刻，将一块块普通的木头赋予生命，最终变成一件件充满故事的艺术品。他的双手粗糙而有力，每一道纹路都仿佛刻着岁月的痕迹，而他对待木头的专注和热爱，让我感受到了何为真正的匠心。书中还穿插了一些关于古老仪式和部落文化的描写，那些描绘身体图腾、部落舞蹈的段落，让我仿佛置身于一个神秘而古老的国度，感受着人类最原始的生命力。作者的文字功底非常深厚，他能够将抽象的概念具象化，将平凡的事物描绘得熠熠生辉。读这本书，我不仅仅是在阅读文字，更像是在进行一次心灵的洗礼，一次对生命本质的探索。它让我重新审视了“身体”这个词的含义，它不再仅仅是物质的载体，更是承载着情感、记忆、文化和精神的容器。我至今仍然记得书里对一位舞者身体线条的描写，那是一种流动的诗，一种无声的语言，通过肢体能够传达出比语言更丰富的情感。
说实话，《Bodymakers》这本书的叙事方式非常独特，它不像我读过的任何一本同类题材的书。作者似乎并不急于给出答案，而是引导读者自己去发现。书中大量运用了旁征博 dikutip的案例，从古埃及的木乃伊制作，到现代的生物工程，再到那些在艺术、运动领域追求极致的个体，每一个故事都独立成章，却又彼此呼应，共同构建了一个关于“身体塑造”的宏大叙事。我尤其喜欢书中关于美学的探讨，作者如何分析不同文化对身体美的定义，以及这些定义如何随着时代而变迁。其中关于维多利亚时代女性对束腰的痴迷，以及这种畸形审美背后所隐藏的社会压力，让我感到既震惊又心酸。作者的文字冷静而客观，但他字里行间流露出的对人性的洞察，却又是如此深刻。我常常在读到某个段落时，会停下来，反复咀嚼作者的文字，思考他所提出的观点。这本书让我意识到，我们对身体的“塑造”，其实很大程度上是社会文化和历史潮流的投射。它挑战了我固有的认知，让我开始质疑那些我们习以为常的关于身体的标准和理想。
我必须承认，《Bodymakers》这本书带给我的震撼是难以言喻的。它并非一本简单的科普读物，也不是一本励志书籍，它更像是一面镜子，映照出我们内心深处对于“完美”的追求，以及这种追求背后所付出的代价。书中有一个让我印象深刻的案例，讲述了一群年轻的艺术家，他们为了追求极致的身体表现力，不断挑战身体的极限，甚至不惜牺牲健康。作者并没有直接评判他们的行为，而是客观地展现了他们的动机、他们的挣扎，以及最终的结果。这种冷静而深入的剖析，让我看到了人类在追求卓越过程中所展现出的那种矛盾的、复杂的特质。我尤其赞赏作者对细节的捕捉能力，他能够发现那些隐藏在日常表象之下的深层含义。例如，书中关于外科医生如何用精湛的技艺重塑病患身体的段落，每一个手术步骤都被描绘得如同精密的仪器运转，每一个细微的调整都蕴含着生与死的较量。这种描写让我对人类的智慧和创造力有了更深的敬畏。读这本书的过程，让我不断思考，究竟什么才是真正的“塑造”？是外在的改变，还是内在的升华？它引发了我对身体与自我、身体与社会、身体与认同等诸多议题的深入反思。
《Bodymakers》这本书，简直是一场关于“形体”与“灵魂”的奇妙对话。我从这本书里感受到的，是一种超越物质层面的哲学思考。作者的文字如同涓涓细流，却能渗透人心，引发深刻的共鸣。我非常欣赏书中对不同职业群体如何塑造身体的描写，例如那些以声音为生的歌唱家，他们如何通过特殊的训练来达到完美的音域；又例如那些以精细手工为生的匠人，他们的双手如何在日积月累中形成独特的“职业体态”。这些描写让我看到了身体与职业之间那种密不可分的关系，也看到了人类为了实现自己的目标所付出的努力。书中还有一段关于“数字身体”的讨论，作者探讨了虚拟世界中的身体形态，以及这种虚拟的“塑造”对我们现实生活的影响。这部分内容让我感到非常新颖，也引发了我对未来科技发展和人类身体演变趋势的思考。这本书没有提供任何简单的解决方案，它更多的是抛出问题，鼓励读者去思考，去探索。它让我明白，真正的“Bodymakers”不仅仅是改变身体的形状，更是通过对身体的理解和运用，来丰富自己的生命，来创造自己的价值。
