There are some new reasons why we try so hard to control the body in the second half of the 20th century. Our lives are becoming increasingly unmanageable and complicated. There is confusion about what it means to be a woman, to be a man. There are grave environmental problems. AIDS. An uncertain job market. Community is no longer the source of identity and support it once was. The mass media brings death and destructive and political upheaval to us on a daily basis.

In such a culture, the body can seem to be a place where some measure of control can be achieved by the individual. We see this in eating disorders, exercise compulsions, plastic surgery. Of course, these attempts to control the body are futile. The very fact that we have bodies--that we are mortal, perishable--means that we can never be masters of our lives.

I particularly fear for this generation whose sense of self-esteem is so connected to having a perfect body.