Eating Disorders In Nina Sayer's Black Swan

464 Words1 Page

“Black Swan”, which tells about a young successful ballet performer and her immense struggle with perfection, is pressured by her teacher to look thin. He tells the main character, Nina Sayers, to not eat before class because it makes her look fat. This actually put off her eating because she went to so many classes per week, leaving really no time to eat. The ballerina’s see their teacher as a role model, whom as their mentor has the control to forecast the girls' outcome of eating patterns. If they make it an important issue to the girls to be skinny to be a excellent dancer, then the girls are more likely to become anorexic and lose the weight to meet their teacher’s expectations. If the teacher does not pressure the girls to be thin, they have a better chance of not falling into …show more content…

Moreover, the attire ballerina’ must wear adds to the “skinny” issue. Because of the tight clothing, it can expose the dancer to any imperfect areas of their body, evoking girls to stress and encourage them to achieve a small figure. Seeing others thinner than she, could also prompt a dancer to lose a few pounds to look as tiny as the other girls in the room. As each one does this, the room of dancers becomes very small. Anorexia seems like the best way to become the smallest dancer in the class. Similarly, when practicing, ballet dancers often have to work with a male partner. Together, they will work as one and have to execute moves gracefully and flawlessly. A dancer has to be conscious that a man has to be able to carry her for extended lifts and holds. Knowing she can dance better with a smaller weight, persuades a dancer that she must stay thin at all costs. Not only does a ballet performer have to worry about her weight when she has a partner, but it also influence her movement

Open Document