Father Hunger: Fathers, Daughters and Food

by Margo Maine, Craig L. Johnson (Preface)

"Father Hunger" is the emptiness experienced by women whose fathers are/were emotionally absent, a void that leads to unrealistic body image, yo-yo dieting, food fears and disordered eating patterns. "Father Hunger" is a common phenomenon of Western culture, whose dictates and myths limit a father's role, creating a loss for all family members. Dr. Maine also discusses practical solutions to help readers understand and improve their father/daughter relationships and help families reconnect.

Genres: Psychology, Self Help, Nonfiction, Feminism, Food, Mental Health, Health

254 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1991

About the author

Margo Maine has specialized in eating disorders and related issues for over 35 years. A Founder and former Adviser of the National Eating Disorders Association and Founder and Fellow of the Academy for Eating Disorders, her most recent book, Hair Tells a Story: Hers, Yours, & Ours (Toplight Books, 2023), explores women’s relationship with their hair, a critical feminist issue and neglected aspect of body image. Dr. Maine is also author of: Pursuing Perfection: Eating Disorders, Body Myths, and Women at Midlife and Beyond; Treatment of Eating Disorders: Bridging the Research- Practice Gap; Effective Clinical Practice in the Treatment of Eating Disorders; The Body Myth; Father Hunger; and Body Wars; and Senior Editor Emeritus of Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention. The 2007 recipient of The Lori Irving Award for Excellence in Eating Disorders Awareness and Prevention, the 2014 recipient of the Don and Melissa Nielsen Lifetime Achievement Award and the 2015 NEDA Lifetime Achievement Award, Maine has served on many clinical advisory and community boards and is a 2016 Honoree of the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame. She lectures nationally and internationally on eating disorders and maintains a private practice, Maine & Weinstein Specialty Group, in West Hartford, CT. She loves the earth and gets up early every day to celebrate it.

Reviews

[Marisa Lennox · Rating 1 out of 5]

Do not waste your time with this book if you live in reality. The only reason this got stars is because it is a starting point for future books about fathers and their effects on children to be written.

The author of this book tries very hard to take the responsibility of the father's actions and places them back on the women and children in their lives. Societies views, gender roles and outdated patriarchal views are the source of this sickness and reality requires men to step up and take accountability for their actions, or in this case, lack there of. I am astonished by how carefully the author fearfully tiptoes around this subject with the entire book supposedly being about fatherhood and how fathers can do better, yet it barely allows fathers to take responsibilities for their actions even once in this book. This is a victim blaming novel that does little to fix any sort of confusion about gender roles, accountability, abuse and lose of childhood.

[Sophie Richards · Rating 3 out of 5]

Father hunger = eating disorder 🤯

[Diana Heldenbrand · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book does not place blame on fathers but rather suggests that we explore our parental figures and past as a part of a bigger picture. Men set the high or low standard in a daughter's mind of what is acceptable in a romantic partner. With an avoidant or neglectful father, there comes a grasping at breadcrumbs to obtain attention from men in future relationships. It is being love hungry. If you have a father's unconditional love, it roots you deeper in love and in self-esteem to know your value is intrinsic and goes beyond what you do, how you act, or how you look. The book makes sense and rings true.

I only hoped it would delve deeper into healing the void caused from a neglectful or narcissistic parent. There is another book I'm reading which touches on the perfectionistic traits of a person suffering with ED and the need to overcontrol and the inability to connect in relationships. It speaks about how connection is the missing link to healing that inner child. This book is good, in conjunction with others.

[Sarah Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating book highlighting the importance of father in their daughters lives.
As someone who has struggled with disordered eating in multiple forms I identified with many points in this book which is what made it a powerful read. Insightful for me as an adult woman reviewing my past and would certainly be a beneficial read for all fathers of daughters.

[Christine Stiff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible dig into the complexity of make and female relationships. For everyone, Men, women, daughters, sons, moms, dads, changing the dynamic of familia emotional characteristics. This isn’t just for families dealing with an eating disorder. Please read and share.

[Sydney Price · Rating 2 out of 5]

Normative, repetitive and didn’t dig as deep as I would have liked. I appreciated that it was foundational to the understanding of the importance of a father’s role, but felt as if the blame for being absent was passed to everyone else.

[jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing book! Not just fathers should read this, but anyone choosing to start a family or finding difficulty with the dynamics of their family. It doesn't blame men, but society in general for providing us with very limited roles in family contexts. If men and woman could understand the incredible importance of having a solid, available, encouraging father figure, children could be so much more emotionally nourished, allowing them a much better chance at success.

[Anneliese · Rating 2 out of 5]

(read most of it, decided to move on to hilde bruch instead)
disappointed - was hoping for something more in-depth and complex. however, i just got to the chapter on functional dysfunction in families, which seems a bit more interesting. apart from the content, i don't much care for her writing, either. it all feels a bit trite somehow...

[Sarah Casbeer · Rating 5 out of 5]

All men with daughters should read this book. It discusses the role men play in the development of a girl's development and how it impacts a girl's relationship with food. Very important book.

[sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

not that helpful

[Junie · Rating 2 out of 5]

repetitive, normative & superficial. I kept expecting it to dig deeper, but it never happened.