Locker Room Diaries: The Naked Truth about Women, Body Image, and Re-Imagining the "perfect" Body

by Leslie Goldman

Book Overview

I wish my thighs were smaller. "If only I could lose ten pounds." A wake-up call for any woman who has engaged in the "if only" wishing game, Locker Room Diaries uses the unique lens of the locker room to reveal what, exactly, goes into "shaping" not just a woman's body but her body image. The locker room can be a wondrous retreat, a place to toss aside the worries of the day, but it is also where our flaws become most apparent-and where most of us...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0738210420
• ISBN13: 9780738210421
• Release Date: May 2006
• Publisher: Da Capo Lifelong Books
• Length: 264 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.4" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

A Delicious and Page-Turning Read!

I devoured Locker Room Diaries over two days and I have since passed a copy along to my 3 sisters, my girlfriends, my husband, and even a student! I teach writing at a local university and Goldman's words sing and dance across the pages of her powerful book - a book that is part memoir, part ethnography, and part sociology. It is a beautiful work of art and a true labor of love. Like Goldman, I too have struggled with my body over the years - constantly pushing it too many miles until it breaks or pinching every ounce of fat on my stomach and magically wishing it would turn to rock hard stone. Goldman's book is a testament to the times that we live in where Dove pushes for a "real beauty" campaign, yet the "real women" splashed across billboards are selling FIRMING lotion. For any woman who has ever spent time in a gym, Locker Room Diaries will resonate with her. She will laugh and cry simultaneously as her fingers turn the pages. The voices that we hear talking about their boobs, bikini waxes, and food obessions are voices that we are familiar with - that we can relate to. I highly recommend this book!!! Goldman will NOT disappoint.

Everyone should read this book!

This book is amazing. Goldman's hilarious and honest stories on body image made me laugh and cringe at the same time. I applaud Ms. Goldman for providing such a well-written and funny book on this serious subject.

Insightful, poignant and humorous

I bought the book based upon its previous shining reader reviews, and absolutely adored it! I am shocked by M. Prindle's negative review, and couldn't disagree more with her/his opinion. Did M. Prindle even read Locker Room Diaries in its entirity? I doubt it; in my opinion, this book was filled with invaluable anecdotes and information about women and body image. Like many women in my 30s, I have experienced a myriad of body image issues---ranging from anorexia in my teens, to a combination of anorexia and exercise bulimia in graduate school. I'm considered healthy now (thanks to therapy and medications), but I always carry with me an awareness of my body---my physical fitness and dietary intake are omnipresent in the back of my mind. Locker Room Diaries helped my to realize that I am not alone, and that body image issues are pervasive in our society. It also helped me to see that my body has meaningful and amazing functionality, and it's physical beauty (based upon societal and cultural standards) doesn't need to define me as person. Locker Room Diaries made me both laugh and cry, but more importantly, made me contemplate my view of my own body in a less critical way. Also, Goldman's writing style was easy, flowing and infinitely witty. I read the book in three nights before bed, and wished that it was even longer! I can't wait for Goldman's next book!

HILARIOUS must-read for women of all ages!

I read this book in one day - it was THAT fascinating and THAT funny! My favorite chapters are the ones about whether being a twin is a bane or a boon to self-image, the cultural differences of body image, and the real truths about aging. There were more than a few gems of knowledge that I learned by reading this book and it makes for a great conversational piece. Beyond finding myself laughing at Goldman's quick-witted barbs, I found myself having greater compassion for my own self-image...flaws and all! And THAT...is priceless.

Perfect perspectives on imperfect physiques!

Locker Room Diaries is a thorough study of the gauntlet that modern women will run to feel attractive, from hair removal to eating disorders to that elusive goal, self-acceptance. The book's most revealing moments showcase the judgements we pass on ourselves and other women--for anyone who has ever thought to themselves, "Her _____ looks so much better than mine," this book invites the reader to join the club. It treads the dark territory between elliptical machines and showers in brutally honest flip flops, not shying away from the pressures that our towel-wrapped sisters can apply--usually unknowingly and unintentionally. In anecdote after anecdote, Goldman shines a light into the heart of every woman's insecurities, especially her own. Through its astute observations about the nature of women au natural, Locker Room Diaries gives any woman who has ever been in a locker room a sense of sorority, and the hope that maybe we shouldn't worry so much about being perfect, because we're already beautiful.