Eating disorders are hard concepts to grasp. They are not only a mystery to those who do not suffer from their pain, but also to those who have lived with them for many years. These disorders have affected countless amounts of young women throughout the world and they continue to ruins lives, ruin families, and ruin souls everywhere. Many bystanders to these diseases wonder this: “What in this world is preposterous enough to tear women apart so completely that they feel like turning to eating disorders is their only way to escape?”
Every single day, we are unknowingly exposed to one of the main causes of eating disorders. Media. The flawless bodies, the airbrushed faces, the digitally made perfection are all a part of giving these young women a false sense of how they should strive to look. Women like Marya Hornbacher will sit in despair for hours thinking horrid things such as, “Seventeen Magazine advises that thighs should not touch. Mine touch. I suck. It’s all over.” (Hornbacher 44) As appalling as this appears, this is the mindset of almost every bulimic and anorexic. Women are constantly being exposed to society’s idea of perfection through media. Many researchers have discovered that “relentless pressure from media images repeatedly convinces girls that they must have a body that does not gain weight.” (Standing Up For the Girls 23) There are countless organizations trying to eliminate the presence of false perfection in media productions. Humans truly do care, and some truly are trying to stop this horrid disease, they just need opened minded people to lend a hand.
The second major cause of eating disorders is harder to decipher. Family members can unintentionally be the beginning of a dark road for eating disorder victi...
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...eat, there is too much work to be done and too much studying to do.” Scientists show that at least 30% of anorexic were in high percentages of their class. (McDougall Testing Times Eating Away At Top Students 19) These facts should be alarming to everyone. Pressure is present in every aspect of young girl’s lives, and if they are not cared for and loved then that pressure might just change every detail of what their lives mean to them.
Eating disorders are hard concepts to grasp. They are a mystery to every soul in this world. Whether or not we fall victim to these diseases, they affect those around us constantly. Those of us who are not in a battle with these disorders, must be strong enough for ourselves and for those that need our help. If we can pinpoint the origins of these horrid diseases, then why are we not doing everything in our power to eliminate them?
“Eating disorders are ‘about’: yes, control, and history, philosophy, society, personal strangeness, family fuck-ups, autoerotics, myth, mirrors, love and death and S&M, magazines and religion, the individual’s blindfolded stumble-walk through an ever-stranger world.” (Hornbacher, 4)
Steiger, Howard. (1996). Familial eating concerns and psychopathological traits. International Journal of Eating Disorders. 19, 147-157.
Ever since the development of the media such as television, the internet, various fashion magazines and commercial advertisements, society focused more and more on personal appearances. Not only were runway models becoming slimmer but the viewers that watched and read about them were becoming more concerned with their weight. In the past fifty years the number of adolescent girls developing eating disorders increased just as television, advertisements, and magazines were becoming a social norm that was easily and often available. Today, more than ever, adolescents are worrying about weight, shape, size and body image and. It does not help that these children are growing up in a world filled with media material emphasizing dangerously skinny bodies as beautiful and perfect. Anne Morris and Debra Katzman, authors of “The Impact of the Media on Eating Disorders in Children and Adolescents” argue that the media is corrupting individuals to develop eating disorders and body dissatisfaction. “Exploring the Role Society and the Media Play in the Development of an Eating Disorder and the Media Influence on Eating Disorders” claims that there are other factors leading to eating disorders other than media, such as genetics, or public and cultural pressure. "Body Image Within the Vandy Bubble" defends the argument by saying that although media is causing harm in society by portraying extremely thin women and that beauty and thinness go hand in hand, but there are media corporations that are positively informing individuals about healthy body image.
Estimates say that 10 million women and one million men in the US undergo an eating disorder and those numbers are increasing daily. Eating disorders “help” with things such as; emotional pain, conflicts dealing with separation, low self-esteem, depression, or trauma. Although they commonly affect young women, the number of males has increased by over 50% in the last ten years. These disorders are complicated yet very serious. If they are not treated they can cause potential death, physical problems, and mood swings. Although the following list...
Staff, Mayo Clinic. "Eating Disorders: Causes." Mayo Clinic. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 08 Feb. 2012. Web. .
Researchers and doctors find eating disorders to be very complicated to figure out due to the many different factors leading to eating disorders. The majority of these issues derive from media images portraying the “perfect” bodies bringing people to believe that they need to change their eating habits to become that “perfect” image. On average, people waste around 31 hours a week on the internet and spend anywhere from two to four hours a day looking up cosmetic surgery procedures and investigating dietary and weight loss plans in an attempt to get that model worthy body (The Telegraph). Men and women should be proud of whom they are and not be envious of others so much as to want to change their entire appearance; God made us all perfect through his eyes; why would anyone want to change that uniqueness about them?
Eating disorders are described as an illness involving eating habits that are irregular and an extreme concern with body image or weight. Eating disorders tend to appear during teenage years, but can develop at any age. Although more common in women, eating disorders can affect any age, gender or race. In the United States, over 20 million women and 10 million men are personally affected by eating disorders. There are many different causes of eating disorders such as low self esteem, societal pressures, sexual abuse and the victims perception of food. Eating disorders are unique to the sufferer and often, their perception of themselves is so skewed, they may not be aware they have an eating disorder. Media, for quite some time now, has played a significant part in eating disorders. Magazines with headlines ‘Summer Body’, or ‘Drop LB’s Fast!’ attract the attention of girls who may be insecure with themselves. Television productions such as the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show or American’s Next Top Model, show airbrushed and photoshopped women who have body types that may be unachievable. Those who are suffering from eating disorders can suffer dangerous consequences, and it is important to seek help.
Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness; 24 million people of all ages and genders suffer from eating disorders and only 1 in 10 of those 24 million are treated (ANAD). Eating disorders do not discriminate; all ages, genders, ethnicities and races can be victim to this mental illness. It’s important to be aware of the impact eating disorders have on societies across the globe and how the media plays a role if we want to fight the source and promote prevention and/or rehabilitation. I’ve known many people in my life who have some sort of eating disorder, whether it’s anorexia(not eating enough), binge eating(eating large amounts of food rapidly), bulimia (throwing up their food) or just struggling with an unsatisfying self-image. Becoming aware of eating disorders and how they are developed is important to me because in a perfect world, I would like to see this illness become less common or diminished completely among those that I love and anyone else in today’s society. Eating disorders hit home for many people, including myself. Raising awareness may decrease the rate of eating disorders by informing the population of the harm this illness causes and hopefully promote prevention and/or rehabilitation. With the 3 theoretical approaches used by sociologists, Eating disorders can be understood which will better inform society on how to raise awareness, prevent this illness and help those who suffer from eating disorders.
As one can see, eating disorders are real diseases with a biological basis that affect the brain and body and should be treated as any other disease. At least 24 million Americans suffer from eating disorders, which have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness. Twenty percent of people with eating disorders will die prematurely due to complications related to the disease. Schizophrenia, depression and a...
...ople who are overweight or obese, they eat too much because they don’t feel welcomed in any group of friends and eating helps them feel better. Many symptoms are seen and also felt when the person is going through. If a family member sees something strange with either a brother, sister, son or daughter, sometimes even the parents can be going through this. It is very important to talk to them or take them to a doctor. Sometimes culture can be a cause of eating disorders and how the research has proven this. Not only can this cause eating disorders but many more. Some of the time this kind of diseases can risk the life of an individual and when a doctor tries to help him or her it would be too late. All the damage has been done, and there is no way to go back in time and fix all the mistakes make once, to have that one alive and with his or her family. (Huffman. K.)
An eating disorder is characterized when eating, exercise and body image become an obsession that preoccupies someone’s life. There are a variety of eating disorders that can affect a person and are associated with different characteristics and causes. Most cases can be linked to low self esteem and an attempt to, “deal with underlying psychological issues through an unhealthy relationship with food” (“Eating Disorders and Adolescence,” 2013). Eating disorders typically develop during adolescence or early adulthood, with females being most vulner...
When you think of the words “eating disorders”, you automatically picture someone who is thin. This is partly true because people who suffer from anorexia or bulimia are relatively thin, but what you did not know is that there is also an eating disorder that affects mostly those who are obese and it is called binge eating. Eating disorders are any of several psychological disorders characterized by serious disturbances of eating behavior (Merriam Webster, 2014), the best-known eating disorders are bulimia nervosa, binge eating and anorexia nervosa (Yancey, 1999). Not only do eating disorders have the highest mortality rate than any other mental illnesses, but it is estimated that in the U.S. twenty-four million people of all ages suffer from an eating disorder (ANAD). Eating Disorders are not just something that appear overnight and they certainly cannot be prevented, there are several factors that influence these disorders but with help and treatment they can be treated.
Many people think that they know all about eating disorders. They think that they already know all they need to know about them and that as long as your child or your friend or someone you care about doesn’t have it; you don’t have to worry about them. Well, how are you supposed to know when someone you love and care about has them if you don’t even know the basics about the eating disorders? Most of the times the person with the eating disorder was only trying to lose a couple pounds. However, the goal that was set turns into something more than just a couple of pounds and that person may go through extremes to try and get to that perfect body they have in mind. But the perfect body they have in mind is not perfect, not even close. It is a pure illusion in which teenagers are made to believe to be the definition of beauty.
(Thesis Statement)Eating disorders are something that are very common among all people. However, they are not often talked about or understood and this is something we need to fix as a society.
Shapiro, C. M. (2012). Eating disorders: Causes, diagnosis, and treatments [Ebrary version]. Retrieved from http://libproxy.utdallas.edu/login?url=http://site.ebrary.com/lib/utdallas/Doc?id=10683384&ppg=3