Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body Symbols, Allegory and Motifs

Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body Symbols, Allegory and Motifs

Weight

Gay expounds, “But I soon realized I was not only writing a memoir of my body; I was forcing myself to look at what my body has endured, the weight I gained, and how hard it has been to both live with and lose that weight. I’ve been forced to look at my guiltiest secrets. I’ve cut myself wide open. I am exposed.” Weight is a sensitive issue for Roxana Gay for she has struggled to tame it. Evidently, it has affected her self-esteem which complicates the process of explain the impact it has had on her. Writing about weight is analogous to revealing the most intimate fear which Gay has espoused all along. Her journey is mirror in the rhetoric which she employs when expressing her genuine feelings about the text.

BMI

Gay expounds, “One’s BMI is one’s weight in kilograms,, divided by the square of one’s height in meters…If your BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9 you are “normal.” If your BMI is 30 or higher than 40, you are morbidly obese, and if the measure is higher than 50, you are super morbidly obese. My BMI is higher than 50.” Gay’s BMI renders her “super morbidly obese.” Obesity is gauged by the BMI and not mere physical observation of an individual. Moreover fatness is not equivalent to absolute obesity.

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