Shameful Bodies: Religion and the Culture of Physical Improvement

The current prevalent culture reinforces a certain normalcy of the human body and, as such, labels any ‘non–conforming’ human bodies as shameful. Michelle Mary Lelwica examines the hidden role of religion, more specifically Christianity, in the creation of a culture which underscores a healthy young body, and suggests alternative ways of considering the human body which can honour diversity, fragility and fluidity. As a feminist scholar of religious studies, Lelwica criticises the contemporary culture which can be defined as one of physical improvement, emphasising women’s painful experiences with and struggles over their bodies. In deconstructing a better body story, Lelwica pays attention to Christianity’s contribution to this culture and constructs an alternative approach by engaging with Buddhist teaching, feminism and critical thinking. Furthermore, this book invites the reader to consider the corporality of impermanant body, and this theme unfolds throughout the chapters. Lelwica evocatively utilises her own personal stories in terms of body experiences, including her own eating disorder as a teenager and a bout of osteoarthritis which involved a hip replacement surgery in middle age, along with the stories of her family, which is white, middle-class, athletic and Catholic. In this enterprise, Lelwica’s personal experiences serve as a lens to reflect a culture that idealises young, slim, healthy and non-disabled bodies, and she scrutinises the fantasy of the perfect body saturated in