Women\u27s Bodies and Selves in Chronic Illness: An Analytic Comparison of Illness Narratives

This paper is a critical analysis of individual, chronically ill bodies in their various relationships to Anthony Giddens\u27 construction of the reflexive self, and in turn, how these selves interpret the societal/cultural ideals concerning their bodies. Specifically, this paper is a comparison of anorexic and environmentally ill bodies examined through individual narratives. The struggle between the self and the body in both illnesses expresses the intricate relationship between society and the social location of women and their physical selves