International Journal of Science, Engineering and TechnologyAuthors: Associate Professor Dr. Balamayuranathan B, Assistant Professor Ms. Subitsha S
Abstract: This article investigates the formation of feminine subjectivity in Wintergirls through the theoretical frameworks of Michel Foucault and Judith Butler. Existing scholarship has predominantly interpreted anorexia in the novel as a manifestation of psychological disorder, cultural pressure, or bodily control. However, such approaches treat numerical practices—calorie counting, weight monitoring, and bodily calculation—as symptomatic rather than constitutive. This study argues that these practices function as structuring mechanisms of identity. Using qualitative close reading, the analysis demonstrates that Lia’s subjectivity is produced through repeated acts of quantification that displace narrative and experiential self-understanding. Drawing on Foucault’s concept of disciplinary power and technologies of the self, the article shows how surveillance is internalized, rendering the subject both observer and observed. Butler’s notion of performativity further explains how iterative acts of measurement stabilize identity through repetition. The article introduces the concept of “quantified subjectivity” to describe a mode of selfhood constituted through numerical reaffirmation. In this framework, identity is not dissolved but hyper-produced through metric regulation, where numbers acquire epistemic authority over bodily perception and narrative coherence. By foregrounding quantification as a central organizing principle, the study extends existing readings of Wintergirls and contributes to broader discussions on embodiment, discipline, and contemporary forms of self-construction.
