Her Body and Other Parties

Her Body and Other Parties is primarily concerned with the psychology of women in contemporary society. The constant threat of bodily harm, and how this fear takes its toll, is manifested in the ongoing threat that “The Husband Stitch” protagonist’s husband posits to her livelihood. In “Inventory” Machado uses the blatant violence of a Marine who seeks to take advantage of the main character’s kindness to highlight the pervasiveness of male violence, even in the face of human crisis. In “Especially Heinous,” Stabler’s wife contends with the aftermath of rape. The ghost of femicide looms over the story collection’s female characters, including Detective Benson, who is literally haunted by dead teenagers whose murders have gone unsolved, and the main character in “Real Women Have Bodies,” who can see so-called “faded” women, who have lost their bodies in a strange epidemic, sewn into the dresses sold in the shop where she works.

The second part of the book focuses on the internalized oppression of women. “Real Women Have Bodies” touches upon the impossible standards of the fashion industry and its complacency in suppressing female agency. “Eight Bites” deconstructs the pressure upon women to maintain an unrealistic body weight. The character’s hatred of her heavier body illustrates the self-effacement that attempting to maintain these ideal body standards breeds.