Anatomy of the Novel:
Women, Meat & Meaning
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Novels
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The Edible Woman
by Margaret Atwood
Margaret Atwood's The Edible Woman, published in 1969, is told from the perspective of Marian MacAlpin. Marian introduces herself as confident in her abilities, comfortable in her relationship with her boyfriend Peter, and superior in cleanliness and responsibility to her roommate Ainsley. As the book progresses, however, this first-person protagonist begins to feel distanced from herself, shifting the narration to third person point of view in the second part of the book. She grows gradually more confused and less confident in her life. especially after becoming engaged to the domineering Peter, and increasingly finds herself unable to eat--first meat, then all foods.
Marian's relationships become increasingly tense as her feelings of disconnectedness and confusion build up to her rejection of normative expectations. Ultimately, Atwood's The Edible Woman confronts issues of identity, gender roles, social expectations, and ideals of femininity, while presenting a strange and sometimes fabulistic story about a woman trying to find and nourish herself in 1960's Toronto, Canada.
“I can tell you're admiring my febrility. I know it's appealing, I practice at it; every woman loves an invalid. But be careful. You might do something destructive: hunger is more basic than love. Florence Nightingale was a cannibal you know.” Margaret Atwood, The Edible Woman
The Shooting Party
by Isabel Colegate
Published in 1981, this novel is set in 1913 Oxfordshire, England. The story follows a group of aristocrats as they enjoy a weekend of shooting pheasants. Sir Randolph Nettleby, the estate owner and host, represents the old, genteel ideals in force before the destruction and horror of World War I. Sir Randolph, his family, and his guests engage in frivolous banter, game shooting, and extravagant displays of wealth. Meanwhile, the poorer country locals work on the land to lure out animals and maintain vegetation so that the aristocracy can stand and shoot in one place with ease. Throughout the novel the interactions between classes and genders, and with the vegetarian visitor protesting the shooting party, express the tensions that were rising before the British involvement in the First World War.
"These pheasants of course, if one wanted to be legalistic about it, wouldn't be here at all if we hadn't put them here, got the eggs, hatched them out, reared the chicks--you might say we gave them life and then after a bit we take it away again--arrogating to ourselves somewhat God-like powers I must admit. But let's not bother with all that." Isabel Colegate, The Shooting Party
My Year of Meats
by Ruth L. Ozeki
My Year of Meats follows Jane Takagi-Little through her year as a director of a Japanese television show sponsored by a beef-exporting organization called BEEF-EX. The show, My American Wife!, promotes American housewives and the meaty meals they serve their families. Jane is responsible for finding women to promote a “wholesome” image of America and meat in order to encourage the Japanese audience to buy beef from BEEF-EX. On the other side of the world is Akiko Ueno, a Japanese housewife married to a producer of My American Wife!
As the show progresses, Jane itches for more control over the women the producers want to film. Jane wants to include a variety of women on the show in order to highlight diversity within America. Meanwhile, Akiko faces increasing domestic violence from her husband as she attempts to regain control over her body.
During the filming, Jane learns about DES, a harmful hormone used in animals that is then ingested by people eating the meat. Jane learns that DES caused her infertility, and she begins to research the secretive side of the meat-industry. As Akiko struggles with her own infertility, Jane and Akiko’s paths intersect as they are both forced to confront the blindness that shapes their individual cultures and their lives.
"Fed on a media diet of really bad news, we live in a perpetual state of repressed panic. We are paralyzed by bad knowledge, from which the only escape is playing dumb. Ignorance becomes empowering because it enables people to live. Stupidity becomes proactive, a political statement. Our collective norm." Ruth Ozeki, My Year of Meats