“Michelle M. Lelwica author of The Religion of Thinness: Satisfying the Spiritual Hungers Behind Women’s Obsession with Food and Weight declared that ‘Thinness is worshipped in American culture. Unrealistic body images are promoted in the media and entertainment resulting in greater numbers of women and men who feel ‘too fat’ and suffer from eating disorders’” (Shell 1). Eating disorders are characterized by abnormal or disturbed eating habits such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating. Eating disorders have several causes including behavioral, psychological, and social factors, and they frequently appear during adolescence or early adulthood, but it may also develop earlier or later in life. In today’s culture media has a more powerful presence than ever before; this causes the individual to be constantly bombarded by what the media portrays as a “good” body. The mass communication transmits both positive and negative messages about body image to the public. The general public unaware of what a positive or negative body image can do in mental and physical health end up trying to meet those unrealistic standards, thus, so inducing harmful lifestyles. Eating disorders can be caused by sociocultural incitements such as unrealistic standards, set by society and culture, and lack of knowledge about positive and negative body image, but regulations and education must be established to help reduce the problems.
Some people might argue that eating disorders are
It is apparent that with the increasing popularity of social media today, there has been a shift in dietary changes within our society. Individuals are subconsciously changing how and what they eat. The question arises, why are so many young women dissatisfied with their bodies, despite their size? Although there are several forces believed to play a role in this dissatisfaction such as peer criticism and parental influences, the thin-ideal body is dominating the media (Grabe, Ward, & Hyde, 2008). Thinness is largely emphasized and praised for women in magazines, television shows, movies and commercials (Stice & Shaw, 1992). Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder that stems from this ubiquitous obsession to be thin and is often associated with a pathological fear of gaining weight, distorted self-body image and emaciation (The American Heritage® Science Dictionary).
Beauty standards in the media are one of many reasons feeding and eating disorders are a rising problem. The unrealistic body types of being extremely thin, in pop culture, are influential factors for many teens, especially teen girls. According to the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-5), anorexia nervosa is a “restriction of energy intake, intense fear of gaining weight, and a disturbance in the perception of one’s body size” (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Individuals diagnosed with anorexia tend to place a high value on their shape and weight, which can interfere with their daily lives. Individuals diagnosed tend to view of their body shape in a distorted representation. The motivation to become
Eleven million women in the United States suffer from eating disorders- either self-induced semi-starvation (anorexia nervosa) or a cycle of bingeing and purging with laxatives, self-induced vomiting, or excessive exercise (bulimia nervosa) (Dunn, 1992). Many eating disorder specialists agree that chronic dieting is a direct consequence of the social pressure on American females to achieve a nearly impossible thinness. The media has been denounced for upholding and perhaps even creating the emaciated standard of beauty by which females are taught from childhood to judge the worth of their own bodies (Stephens & Hill, 1994). To explore the broader context of this controversial issue, this paper draws upon several aspects on how the media
In Joanna Poppink’s essay entitled “Educational Programs can Help Prevent Eating Disorder,” she writes, “Sometimes parents are afraid that educational materials about eating disorders will stimulate an eating disorder in their teenager. They also fear such material will encourage a teenager with an eating disorder to try new and different methods of acting out the illness” (143). Poppink understands the parental concerns that come with education programs, but she reassures that the knowledge that society obtains from these types of programs will not cause their child to develop an eating disorder (144). Instead, educational programs can help prevent eating disorders by explaining their risks, teaching people how to recognize an eating disorder in someone they know, and discussing different ways on how to begin the treatment of an eating disorder. Also, American society must do everything it can to stop the idea that beauty, popularity, and success come with thinness. In order to start the prevention of eating disorders in teenage girls, the society must first stop promoting women who are unhealthy and under the average BMI. By promoting women of all different sizes and shapes in the media, American society can help girls facing eating disorders become more comfortable in their bodies and help them understand that people have various body sizes to suit their unique
In the words of American psychologist Mary Pipher, “When unnatural thinness became attractive, girls did unnatural things to be thin”(“A Quote by Mary Pipher”). There are three main types of eating disorders: anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder. An eating disorder is a mental illness that affects at least 30 million people of all ages and genders in the U.S. every year (“Eating Disorder Statistics”). Of the number of factors that may lead to an eating disorder, the media is an extremely prevalent causative. It portrays an ideal body image that is unrealistic for most people, acts as a trigger for eating disorders in people who may have been prone, and although positive measures are being taken, the overall impact of
Media exposure of the thin-ideal body and materialistic values is causing eating disorders. As the “current trend for size- zero is growing” (Ahern 296), it is causing more people to be unhappy with their bodies eventually leading to eating disorders. The normal and
For this paper, I chose to focus on eating disorders looking mainly at their causes. Based on personal experience, I feel that these disorders are stereotyped very heavily in our society, and that public awareness of their causes lacking. Growing up I was always very thin, due to a high metabolism and a small bone structure; traits which ran in my family. Many times, people would make fun of me and even call me anorexic. However, I was not anorexic or bulimic, I was just a thin child, and am still a thin young woman. These trials taught me a very valuable lesson about labeling people, and how much that can hurt them. This is one of the reasons I chose to write about this topic. I also chose to focus on the causes of these disorders because
In today’s world, the pursuit of thinness has increased due to the association it has with physical attractiveness and body perfection. Society, particularly the Western culture, idolizes thin body size as the ideal body image. And as a consequence, eating disorders can develop when people take this to the extreme. Scholars have looked at all forms of persuasive tools that can explain the popularity of anorexia nervosa. From language use (Burke, 1966) to the power of culture in terms of presumed knowledge (Dumit, 2003) and its increasing interest in the ideal body image of the Western culture (Vandereycken and van Deth, 1994).
Americans obsessions with their bodies has become a hot topic lately. From personal observation and research, I have seen the obsession become more severe. Web sites dealing with eating disorders are some of the most commonly visited web sites. We have a problem. The obsessions are becoming too serious, even fatal. Americans today have become slaves to the diet and fitness industries, resulting in an increased number of eating disorder cases over the past few years. If Americans are not educated about the complicated causes and effects of eating disorders then the plague of the 90’s, eating disorders, is going to continue to kill. The following paragraphs are a start to the education. They deal
In the present day, this concept of an ideal woman has slowly gravitated back towards the nineteenth century stereotype of having a frail, rail-thin body shape; however, social status is no longer the leading factor behind the movement. With the newly established capabilities of television access, commercial advertisements, and mass distribution, the rate of eating disorders skyrocketed. According to the American Obesity Association, 65% of adults and 30% of children are overweight. 30% of the adults and 15% of the children in the same category are considered to be clinically obese. Concurrently, the rate of eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, continue to rise at a phenomenally simultaneous rate (257). These disorders can be viewed as a direct result of media consumption.
Often, the desire to become thin becomes an obsession. People’s obsession over their appearance has led to a growing number of eating disorders. Eating disorders are a serious health problem. Personal Counseling & Resources says that eating disorders “are characterized by a focus on body shape, weight, fat, food, and perfectionism and by feelings of powerlessness and low self-esteem.” Additionally, the media imparts a great deal of thinness on television, the Internet, and magazines that are viewed by millions of people every day leaving these individuals with a strong desire to look like models, actors and actresses. Abuse, whether it be physical, emotional, or sexual, can also contribute to the development of an eating disorder
Eating disorders are the most common “fashion accessory” in today’s modern culture. Society has transformed the concept of a healthy body into bare bones, anorexic body. Courtney Martin, a feminist and a voice for the New York Times, NEED TO SHOW SHE GOT STATSICS SOMEWHERE ELSE “Girls across the world are being affected by eating disorders: eating disorders affect 7 million American girls and women and 70 million people worldwide (Martin 50). Eating disorders are prominent in our culture because of the lies regarding how to obtain and what a beautiful body looks like. False body image impacts women daily and increase the chances of eating disorders. Not only are average Americans affected by culture’s body ideals, celebrities fall
The National Eating Disorder Association (2012) reports that the media and its representation of beauty is recognized as one of the factors contributing to the rise of eating disorders. Media Defused energy and anger in women by showing them peer shaped models. “the mass media are generally agreed to be an influential source of images and messages about the idealized body that women and girls are expected to strive for a control condition”(huon 2005). The media are a business that rely on people, and like any business, their purpose is to create opportunities for generating profit. The problem lies within the way people, most especially women, are treated by the media as products rather than human beings worthy of dignity, personhood, and respect. The media use discrimination, objectification, and dehumanization to police women’s bodies. The result of this is a rise in low self-esteem, dangerous body modification procedures, violence, and
It is evident that eating disorders are consuming our current population as many are obsessed with the amount of food they consume and their body size and weight while others do not seem to care what they eat and the size they are growing into. In the country of Japan, what is considered thin in the western world is what the see as the average size.( Kathleen & Amy, 2004) Apparently the media has also had its fair share of influence in the contribution of posing a thin body as the acceptable one thus making girls and young women fall into the eating disorder trap.( Fatima & Ruth, 2003). This goes hand in hand with the fashion world as they employ people who are a size zero or
In a society that discriminates against people, particularly women, who do not look slender, many people find they cannot - or think they cannot - meet society's standards through normal, healthy eating habits and often fall victim to eating disorders. Bulimia Nervosa, an example of an eating disorder that is characterized by a cycle of binge eating and purging, has become very common in our society. Although it generally affects women, men too are now coming to clinics with this kind of disease. This is not a new disorder. It can be brought on by a complex interplay of factors, which may include emotional, and personality disorders, family pressures, a possible genetic or biologic susceptibility, and a culture in which there is an