REVIEWS Such a Pretty Face: Being Fat in America, by Marcia Millman, with photographs by Naomi Bushman. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1980. 252 pp. npl. Pete Schmitz University of Nebraska-Lincoln One does not have to be an expert in deviance to realize that our society punishes those who will not, or cannot, conform to certain cultural standards of beauty~ While we have legal sanctions against discrimination by sex, creed, race, and national origin, there is little recourse for the "ugly" if they know they were passed up for a job that went to someone considered "cute," or "attractive." In fact, it is not unusual to find advertisements for an attractive person to work in an office, store, or bar. Admittedly, we have seen many "homely" people make it to the top, Henry Kissinger and Barbra Streisand being two good examples. But this is little comfort for those who are not exceptionally talented, intelligent, or affluent. Obesity is considered ugly in American society. But not only are fat people considered ugly, they are also thought of as sloppy, stupid, and mean. The fat person's one escape from these stereotypes has been to put on a " j o l l y " facade. Other myths about fat people prevail. They are said to be unhealthy, inefficient, and asexual. Given these misconceptions, it is easy to see why the fat person's life chances are limited when trying to find a job, lover, or friend. These oppressive conditions have worked against fat women more than fat men. After all, Ed Asner or Marion Brando can put on as many pounds as they want without ruining their careers. But whenever Elizabeth Taylor appears in a new movie, television show, or play, critics and journalists will often dwell more on her size than her ability to act. And how many fat women do we see starring in their own television series? While the double standard of beauty is becoming a thing of the past, instead of making it permissible for women to deviate from standards of attractiveness, we now expect men to be more conscious of their physical appearance. Marcia Millman, a feminist sociologist, deals with the obese as a minority group in her book, Such A Pretty Face. Although it is primarily concerned with women who identify themselves as having a weight problem, anyone, male or female, who has been stigmatized for being ugly in any way should be able to identify with many of the problems discussed by the subjects in this book. Instead of sorting her respondents into ideological or psychological typologies as so many sociologists do, Millman allows these people to speak for themselves as they convey the humor and tragedy of their situation. The Qualitative Sociology, vot, 5(7), Spring 1982 0762-0436/82/1300-00625o2 75

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author talks with those who proclaim that "fat is beautiful," as well as with those who are merely resigned to being fat. She also interviews those who have been able to lose enough weight in order to be considered attractive. In addition to the fifty interviews, Millman observed various self-help groups for fat people. Overeaters Anonymous, modeled after Alcoholics Anonymous, was one of these groups. In this organization, l~eople establish mutual support systems to help each other reduce. Many members of OA accept the traditional myths concerning fat people, as they tend to view the misery associated with fatness as a personal problem. At the other end of the spectrum is the National Association to Aid Fat Americans. People in NAAFA view their situation as political rather than personal. According to them, if some people want to reduce, that's fine, but if others want to remain fat, that's fine too. Like other activist minority organizations, NAAFA organizes political action committees to improve the social and economic conditions of their constituency. And the group strives to educate the public through films, pamphlets, and lectures which are designed to counteract popular misconceptions about the fat. One of the book's most excruciating chapters deals with children who are sent away to summer reducing camps. Aside from dealing with anxious parents, these youngsters must face hostile peers during the school year. Many of them end up gaining back what they lost, and are thus sent back to camp the next summer where there will at least be friendly familiar children their own age. But the most important observation made in this chapter is the fact that children at these camps learn to associate dieting with punishment. Aside from attacking the social mythology of obesity, which she does well, Millman confronts certain medical myths. Thus we learn that fat people are as healthy as their thin counterparts •in fact it is better to be a little overweight than slightly underweight), and that many methods of reducing put more stress on the body than not dieting at all. But the beauty of this book is that the author does not expound a single solution for her readers. She recognizes that since the psychology, physiology, and culture of each fat person are different, an array of choices, along with their consequences, must be considered. The most profound point made, however, is that the social stigma of being fat is often more devastating than the physical state. Although Such A Pretty Face is written with a sociological flair, its inLent is therapeutic rather than academic. Therefore it lacks the jargon and burdensome statistics that often make sociological works anti-social and inaccessible to interested laypersons. This is not to deny its scholarly merits; it should inspire sociologists and psychologists who are interested in the social and psychic conditions of those considered ugly. Another valuable asset to Millman's work is the photographs done by Naomi Bushman. Whereas cameras are often used to manipulate the image of the fat person so as to make him or her look ridiculous or grotesque (the films of Lina Wertmueller are an excellent example), Bushman allows her subjects to define themselves. The results are pleasing to the eye. As Millman admits, her study is limited mainly to white, middle-class women. Another limitation of the book is that it does not consider, at length, the effects of the mass media on the fat person, especially his or her body image. Nevertheless, Millman has finally provided fat people with a voice. Now it is time for other "ugly" people to be heard.

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Providence: The Reconstruction of Social and Moral Order, by Richard Quinney. New York: Longman Inc., 1980. 118 pp. $12.95 cloth. Richard Stivers Illinois State University Quinney's new book is difficult to evaluate, for it is part sociology, part history, and part theology. Moreover, it is a courageous work, full of passion and deeply held belief. It thus forces us to come to grips with our own beliefs. Make no mistake, however; this hybrid is a good book, well-written and well-reasoned. Quinney is looking to "spiritualize" Marxism and to "radicalize" Christianity, or in other words, to accomplish a synthesis of Marxism and Christianity. He wants a Christianity in favor of socialism and a Marxism that recognizes the transcendent God of Jews and Christians. He follows the lead of the Christian theologian Paul Tillich, who desired a religious socialism but also believed that socialism must move beyond itself toward the heavenly Jerusalem. Socialism is thus not the end of our historical journey; rather it is the beginning. In the second chapter of Providence, Quinney examines the relationship between Christianity, especially Puritan Christianity, and early American capitalism. His treatment of Puritanism is at once both respectful and subtle. Eschewing the stereotypical Puritan so prevalent in modern thought, Quinney argues skillfully that the Puritan did not oppose pleasure (pleasure for its own sake is another matter) and did not support capitalism. Following Samuelsson, he rejects Weber's argument that Calvinism in the 16th and 17th Centuries indirectly supported the spirit of capitalism. By the 18th Century, as Weber acknowledged, the Protestant ethic had already become a secular work ethic. So the crucial part of Weber's thesis centered upon the nature of Calvinistic theology and ethics in the earlier time period (16th and 17th centuries). Quinney argues the other side of Weber's thesis, namely that capitalism brought about changes in Calvinism and the Lutheran idea of a calling that began the secularization of Protestantism in the 18th Century. Chapters 3 and 4 trace the eventual victory of capitalism and nationalism over Christianity. For the early Puritans America represented a land of opportunity to build an authentic religious community. Over time this "land of opportunity" became confused with a religious community. Thus America as a capitalistic democracy became an object of reverence. "The American Way of Life," as Herberg referred to it, became the religion of Americans. Quinney's analysis in these middle chapters suffers slightly from an underemphasis on what some have called private religion. Herberg saw it as a complement to civic religion, which, together with the former, forms part of the American Way of Life. (Perhaps the most detailed and brilliant analysis of private religion in America is Donald Meyer's The Positive Thinkers: Religion as Pop Psychology from Mary Baker Eddy to Oral Roberts.) For Quinney, secular religions are essentially civil religions, which are public and center in part on a collective identification with one's political economy. One of the most insidious developments in modern societies, however, has been an extreme individualism, which, in turn, results in a

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constant search for self-assurance and self-fulfillment. Private religions are attempts to meet such needs. The fourth chapter depicts modern society in rather orthodox Marxist terms. This is no place to argue the issue, but I wish only to point out that while most of Marx's analysis was appropriate for the 19th Century, it is not applicable today, at least in its entirety. Part of the role capital played in the last century and earlier in this century has been assumed by technology today; moreover, the political state stands in a much different relationship today to the capitalist class than it did in the past. The final chapter and epilogue focus on Quinney's suggestions for a socialist culture and on prophetic criticism. There is a good discussion of Christianity and socialism, on how a socialist culture must not allow the material conditions of life to dictate the moral form a cuiture assumes. At this point Quinney is obviously at odds with Marx. Quinney's insight is that the material conditions of life will never by themselves lead to social justice; it is only when the human being acts in accordance with the will of the transcendent God that justice prevails. 1 am uneasy about aspects of Quinney's theology, and of Tillich's, for that matter. Disavowals notwithstanding, I think that there is too much of a linking of socialism to the Christian eschaton. I don't believe that any political economy will in and of itself help to bring about God's Kingdom. Nor do I believe that God wishes to link the Kingdom to a particular political economy. The Kingdom will not come about through political revolution, but rather through acts of prayer, witness, and love. This is not to say that Christians should not be involved in politics and in revolutions, but that these actions will not be the decisive ones in bringing about the Kingdom. The Christian's principal task is to help people change, not to change institutions. In the same vein, Quinney appears to be claiming that justice is the paramount value Christians should be working toward. Furthermore, this justice is the product of a particular set of social institutions--democratic socialism. Yet it seems that Christ Himself and the early Christians deemphasized politics and instead saw Love as the supreme expression of the Christian life. In our loving our neighbor and our enemy lies the greatest revolution the world can experience, for in such love God's Kingdom is already present, even if disguised as a mustard seed. This is an important book; don't miss reading it.

Societal Growth: Processes and Implications, edited by Amos H. Hawley. New York: Free Press, 1979. 388 pp. $16.50. Kenneth Hadden The University of Connecticut The theme of the 1978 ASA meetings, held in San Francisco, was "Societal Growth: Processes and Implications." Scattered throughout the five days of the meetings were 14 thematic panels and three plenary sessions, including Hawley's Presidential address. The 17 resulting papers, many of them revised for this volume, have been organized into three

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sections (The Forms of Societal Growth; Structural Ramifications of Societal Growth; and The Future of Societal Growth), each with a brief introduction by the editor. Societal Growth will be a valuable addition to the libraries of social scientists of a macro-structural bent. It will no doubt also prove useful in graduate seminars which focus on issues of social change. Two general conceptualizations of societal growth--evolution and expansion--are presented in the opening and, for me, most provocative essays. For Lenski a central issue in societal growth is the time-frame within which one chooses to view change. Opting for the broad sweep of time, Lenski adopts an evolutionary conception of societal growth. He distinguishes general evolution (e.g., on the average, societies have become progressively larger and more complex over time) from specific evolution (e.g., the rise and fall of any particular society) and focuses on the former. He points to three interdependent components which drive the evolutionary engine: our genetic heritage, the resources and resistences contained in the biophysical environment, and culture. Lenski persuasively argues that the interplay of these components accounts for the major features of general evolutionary change: growth in population size and concentrations, expansion into new environmental niches, technological growth, and increased organizational complexity. Attention to the "big picture", and the resulting cultural and temporal inclusiveness, is a major strength of Lenski's essay. It also sets him apart from most of the other authors in this volume. The second major conceptualization of societal growth--system expansion--is discussed by Hawley and elaborated by Matras, Hawley sees both evolution and expansion as arising out of cumulative change in the complexity and scale of a social system which, in turn, depend upon the efficiency with which people, materials and information can be moved. Evolution and expansion are mutually exclusive; expansion occurs when complexity and scale proceed apace, while the probability of evoluation (and presumably extinction) increases as rates of change in scale and complexity diverge. Hawley suggests that the expansion process corresponds to Lenski's specific evolution (or, more appropriately, the growth phase of specific evolution; contraction eventually occurs as well). Expansion, for Hawley, intervenes between the apparent quantum leaps represented by evolutionary "stages." The expansion idea is elaborated by Matras who sees increases in scale and knowledge producing differentiation along two dimensions: the organization of production of rewards and resources and the organization of allocation of these rewards and resources. The interested reader may turn to Service's (1960) "Law of Evolutionary Potential," as well as to Matras's essay, for plausible points of integration between Lenski's evolutionary conception and Hawley's expansion view. Section One concludes with papers by Coleman and by Keyfitz. Coleman tells us that the measurement of societal growth is contingent upon the conceptualization of it which one adopts. He discusses measurement strategies one might pursue in two situations: one if the focus of attention is societal elements (e.g., individual actors, collective actors), the other if the focus is on the origins of social processes which terminate at the individual (e.g., the production and distribution of consumer goods, socialization of children, authoritative commands in the workplace). As useful as this

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discussion is, the range of conceptualizations of societal growth is far broader than Coleman considers; measurement issues in historical and cross-cultural contexts, which seem central to me, await additional treatment. As does Coleman, Keyfitz also considers the choice of a conceptual model to be a central issue, not with respect to measurement per se but in terms of informing policy. Section One does a good job of outlining a variety of conceptualizations one might employ in examining societal growth. Section Two, which purports to examine structural changes in various institutional spheres arising out of societal growth, is less satisfactory. The problem here is that most of the papers attend exclusively or primarily to recent American experience. The assumption is that the recent American experience constitutes an instance of societal growth. Whether important structural ramifications of societal growth of any generality are identifiable in such a narrow cultural and temporal context is quite problematical. The prime exception to the undue American focus is Udy's continuation of earlier work on organizational complexity and performance in work organizations in non-industrial societies. Wi[ensky and Lawrence's reexamination of the ascription-achievement hypothesis also draws on some historical and non-American material; and some cross-national data are reported in the provocative paper by Hodge and Meyer which speculates on connections between an urban hierarchy, the industrial division of labor, and stratification of individuals. Section Two is completed with papers by Palen on urban decentralization; Suttles and Janowitz on problems of articulating community groups with broader social institutions in contemporary metropolises; Blake on the continuing structural differentiation of the family; and Converse on positive and negative consequences of societal growth for quality of life. The final section ("The Future of Societal Growth") contains papers by Gusfield on the increasingly important role played by social movements in the social change process and by Greer on discontinuities and fragmentation in societal growth. This section opens with two papers which take a world-system perspective. Wallerstein's version of dependency theory anticipates continued expansion of the capitalist world-economy's dominance bf the periphery. This process has, so far, evoked nationalistic responses within peripheral states, but Wallerstein sees this as gradually giving way to transnationaf workers' parties en route to universal sociaiism. Horowitz, on the other hand, rejects both the ethnocentric conservatism of modernization theory and the utopian radicalism of dependency theory as providing satisfactory projections for the fuller participation of the underdeveloped states in the world system. Horowitz prefers, instead, a pragmatic developmental model in which the initiatives and strategies for social and economic growth are based not upon some captitalistic or socialistic scenario, but upon the real potentialities and limitations of the developing regions themselves. Regardless of whether one considers oneself a student of the modernization school, the dependency school or the developmental school, one implication seems clear: cultural isolation diminishes as interdependencies ramify through the emerging world system. While there is reason to take heart from the prospects of a world society, there is reason

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for alarm as well. Boulding, who with Lenski takes a broad evolutionary view of societal growth, puts it this way in his closing essay (p. 327): All systems face eventual catastrophy, that is, death. The evolutio~nary process has survived the death of innumerable individuals and species because of isolation and diversity, but a single world system might face universal and irretrievable catastrophy. One world could lead to no world. But we, despite increasing interdependencies, continue to live in many worlds; all of them are changing, some growing, others not. Perhaps it is time to attend more systematically to issues of societal decline, contraction and death as well.

REFERENCE Service, Elman R. 1960 "The Law of Evolutionary Potential." in M.D. Sahlin and E. R. Service (eds.).Evolution and Culture, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

Re-engagement in Later Life: Re-employment and Remarriage, by Ruth Harriet Jacobs and Barbara H. Vinick. Stamford, Connecticut: Greylock Publishers, 1979. 243 pp. npl. Karen A. Conner Drake University In their book, Re-engagement in Later Life, Jacobs and Vinick provide a readable, sometimes poignant, glimpse into the lives of older people who have refused to give up their active involvement in life and their search for intimacy. Their focus is on people who have re-engaged; men and women who have sought re-employment following retirement, and remarriage after the loss of a spouse. Jacobs and Vinick's work fits comfortably in the disengagement-activity theory controversy that was, until fairly recently, an issue of avid debate among social gerontologists. The debate began in 1961 with the publication of Cumming and Henry's now famous book Growing Old: The Process of Disengagement. In their book they argued that satisfactory adjustment during the later stages of the life cycle was based on voluntary withdrawal from several significant social roles and the narrowing of the individual's social world. Old age was characterized as a period of resigned loss and a willing retreat to the rocking chair. "Not so," countered the activity theorists. They posited that engagement, not disengagement, is the key to successful aging. Senior citizens should be encouraged to remain active, to find new activities, new friends, new experiences; to remain engaged with life.

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Re-engagement in Later Life does not fall into the trap of attempting to support one side or the other; instead, it correctly recognizes that the d e b a t e is ancient history. Happily, social gerontology as a field has progressed and matured to the point where it is recognized that social and psychological adjustment is not represented by conformity to one set standard. Rather, adjustment is " d e p e n d e n t on personal style." Often adjustment is contingent on the continuation in old age of patterns established in youth. Some people are pleased to expand their lives in old age, to remain active by seeking out new activities, pursuing new hobbies, and exploring new territory. Others thrive only when they can continue their past lives in a fairly undisturbed fashion; when forced to retire they seek employment, when losing a spouse, they seek to remarry. Re-engagement in Later Life focuses on this latter group. By reading Jacobs and Vinick's book we have a clear understanding of some senior citizens' motivations, how they cope with success and failure; why, during a period in the life cycle characterized for some people by disengagement and letting go, these people wish to engage and hang on. The book is divided into two parts that represent separate efforts by the two authors. Jacobs, supported by a grant from NIMH, conducted research resulting in Part I--"Re-employment." Vinick, also supported by a grant from NIMH, is responsible for Part II--"Remarriage." Together they explore the responses of older people to two of life's most significant losses; loss of job and of a spouse. As Jacobs stresses, re-employment is an issue of great national concern. Recent increases in life expectancy make it reasonable to assume that one can continue a healthy life 10, 15, or even 20 years following mandatory retirement at age 65 or 70. The vagaries of the national economy cause many people to question the financial wisdom of a life without paid employment; the typically American need to be meaningfully employed, to be productive, makes retirement from the labor force painful for some. Jacobs provides us with a series of interviews with people who eventually sought re-employment. The typical cycle experienced by her respondents was "retirement from a long-held job, initial enjoyment of leisure time and catching up with the tasks at home, boredom (accompanied by depression or imagined illness) and then, for the lucky ones, re-engagement--finding a new o c c u p a t i o n - - s o m e t i m e s a hobby and sometimes a different type of job." Each chapter in Part I deals with a different type of employment. The reader hears these men and women talk about their return to work in jobs that are sometimes similar to and often quite different from those held before retirement. The chapters include a focus on "Business and Industry," "Municipal and Community Service Employees," "Second Careers Working with the Elderly," and "Sheltered Workshops." Each chapter concludes with thoughtful, realistic, and practical advice to people who wish to explore employment opportunities in that particular area. We hear the voices of people who have been successful at solving the many problems that await the over-65 job seeker. In an additional chapter, Jacobs presents interviews with people whose efforts have not met with success. The contrast between success and failure is sharp and insightful. The final chapter provides general advice to job seekers and is, with few exceptions, suitable for any age group.

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Vinick turns our attention from re-employment to remarriage in Part 11. In the introduction to the book, the reader has been told that while little is known about those who retire and return to work, more is known about those who remarry in later life. Perhaps it is this fact that explains why this part of the book is less stimulating and somewhat pedantic. This part of the book opens with a chapter on the demographics of remarriage in the over 65 set and a rather detailed discussion of the sample selection and interviewing procedures used in data collection. It is only on the'latter point that this section is superior to the one on re-employment. That section could have benefited from a more complete discussion of who the respondents were, how they were selected, and other points of methodological interest and concern. Following Vinick's introduction to her work, Part II includes a portrait of a "representative pair of newlywed elders" that "typify the most prevalent characteristics of our group of late-life brides and grooms." The following four chapters are arranged in order of the progressive phases of remarriage including "Being Alone," "Meeting and Courtship," "The Transition to Marriage," and "Marital Satisfaction and the Current Domestic Situation." Again, we hear the voices of mature men and women talk about their previous marriages, their hopes for the future, their moments of happiness and passion, and their occasional bitter disappointment. The primary value of this material is that it gives life to the findings of previous research using primarily survey techniques. For example, the variations in reasons why men and women remarry has been explored before and Vinick's findings support this earlier work. However, hearing her respondents describe their motives in their own words provides a depth of understanding that is not available elsewhere. These personal accounts add texture and color to the tapestry. The book as a whole is excellent. It is a sound piece of academic scholarship. It deals with a topic of interest to many who are involved in gerontological teaching and research and also to the practitioner struggling with the day-to-day demands of service delivery and administration. The book's most unique, and perhaps most valuable, feature is the sound, practical advice offered to the senior citizen. It is this that sets it apart from other work in the academic domain. Not only does it address the nature and substance of problems experienced by old people in American society, it also tells these people how to deal with their problems. The book is warm and inspiring reading.