Joan Jacobs Brumberg

Author and historian Joan Jacobs Brumberg. Her new book, "The Body Project," attempts to trace back through the century to discover why young women report unhappiness with their bodies now more than ever. Working with girls' diaries from the 1830's up to the present day, Brumberg outlines the shifting pressures that have altered the way females define themselves.

Historian Joan Jacobs Brumberg links the eating disorder to Victorian standards of femininity and contemporary ideas of health and beauty. Her findings suggest that increased social mobility put women and girls at greater risk for the disease.