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Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant, relevant, a must-read for feminists
Review: Although a challenging read for me at times, this book was full of "aha!" moments. I think Bordo nails it when it comes to how the issues women's size and appearance are portrayed in the media. I recommend this book highly to other feminists and those interested in media literacy.
Rating: 
Summary: OVERWEIGHT, INTELLECTUALLY THAT IS.
Review: Seemingly a random collection of personally motivated opinion, quotation, and "I don't know whut all!" (Shades of Herb Schriner.) Lots of cerebral cellulite though on the whole it carries more meaning than almost all of the Academic/Gender Feminist writings. It is, to be sure, not obscure in the extreme. (Parenthetically, I believe I would like Bordo.) Cheers,Ed W., PhD. (social philosophy), Chicago 1962; Doktor Rerum Naturum, Freiburg im Breisgau 1965 (like, applied physics dudes)
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Summary: See my review of "Twilight Zones," also by Susan Bordo
Review: Summary: 2/3 good (on body images, eating disorders) 1/3 bad (a terrible, god-awful essay on the purported debate in feminist philosophy)
Rating:
Summary: Awesome- Highly Recommended
Review: Susan Bordo doesn't miss a beat in this work. Every sentence has a purpose and every paragraph is filled with valuable insight into the world of contemporary female bodies. This is a practical book for the curious consumer and the student of feminism alike. Her ideas about post-modernism are challenging and abstract, but reading Bordo will most likely open up a new world for you. It did for me and this masterpiece has become one of my all-time favorites. Best Wishes...
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant, relevant, a must-read for feminists
Review: Susan Bordo's "Unbearable Weight" presents a thoroughly researched, well-balanced, detailed and illustrative account of the female postmodern "body politic." Bordo explores myriad concepts of the body juxtaposed against cultural norms and expectations. For Bordo, the body has both natural and cultural meanings, and gender is a social construct defined by men. Anorexia nervosa is simply a "logical" protest reaction against male dominance and the constraints of female sex-role conditioning. No doubt, while women were not chained in the dark shadows of Plato's "Allegory of the Cave," they were, indeed, shackled outside it but silenced. I, too, like these women, was manacled and confined inside the cave of male social conditioning and what it meant to be a man. And I did not find kindred spirits there. What finally emerged outside the cave was a man with eyes without a face with his very own protest and autobiographical "Sisyphus and the Struggle Within" written inside the heart on stone. While the body is, indeed, a heavy "unbearable weight," it can be made light and bearable through conscious self-definition and identity, mental and intellectual transcendence. Though it poses great danger, it takes Sisyphean strength and courage to break free from, and revolt against the barriers of dominant social control and gender inequality.
Rating:
Summary: Brutally honest, insightful, and most challenging read.
Review: Susan Bordo's "Unbearable Weight" presents a thoroughly researched, well-balanced, detailed and illustrative account of the female postmodern "body politic." Bordo explores myriad concepts of the body juxtaposed against cultural norms and expectations. For Bordo, the body has both natural and cultural meanings, and gender is a social construct defined by men. Anorexia nervosa is simply a "logical" protest reaction against male dominance and the constraints of female sex-role conditioning. No doubt, while women were not chained in the dark shadows of Plato's "Allegory of the Cave," they were, indeed, shackled outside it but silenced. I, too, like these women, was manacled and confined inside the cave of male social conditioning and what it meant to be a man. And I did not find kindred spirits there. What finally emerged outside the cave was a man with eyes without a face with his very own protest and autobiographical "Sisyphus and the Struggle Within" written inside the heart on stone. While the body is, indeed, a heavy "unbearable weight," it can be made light and bearable through conscious self-definition and identity, mental and intellectual transcendence. Though it poses great danger, it takes Sisyphean strength and courage to break free from, and revolt against the barriers of dominant social control and gender inequality.
Rating: 
Summary: Convincing
Review: The one thing you want to keep in mind when purchasing this book: it's not a light read and it ain't supposed to be. If three syllable words throw you for a loop, stay away. If you feel every fat acceptance book you've read recently has insulted the depth of your intelligence, then read up! At the very least, you can't walk away from this book failing to be convinced that the world at large is at war with our bodies.
Warning: not a feel-good book! You'll be angry and start snapping at your husband, but righteous fury is where change begins.
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Summary: Susan Bordo is a Genius and this is a great book
Review: Unbearable Weight is brilliant. From an immensely knowledgeable feminist perspective, in engaging, jargonless (!) prose, Bordo analyzes a whole range of issues connected to the body -- weight and weight loss, exercise, media images, movies, advertising, anorexia and bulimia and much more -- in a way that makes our current social landscape make sense -- finally! This is a great book not just for academics but for anyone who wonders why women's magazines are always describing delicious food as "sinful" and why there is a cake called Death by Chocolate. Loved it!
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic
Review: Unbearable Weight is a scholarly yet accessible look at the historical and current representation of women in history and in popular culture. It is an excellent look at society's objectification of the female body and the problems that can arise for women because of this objectification. This book shines not so much as a linear collection of essays but as a reference for people who wish to study the marriage between feminism, western society, and its concentration on the female body. It has helped me to understand the media's role in my relationship with my body and in the amount of control that I have over it. "Unbearable Weight" has also been a great help in my research on this subject. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to better understand Western Cultures objectification of women's bodies through a feminist filter.
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