The desire to lose weight has seemingly grown as common as the desire to breathe. A disease that lures an individual in, chews them up and spits them out with many more problems than they started is nonchalantly thrown around, often with little regard to its true meaning. This is our society’s new normal. There’s a boatload of false information circulating anorexia, which is characterized by “an abnormally low body weight, intense fear of gaining weight and a distorted perception of body weight.” Mayo Clinic. Adding to the chorus of eating disorders that are inaccurately portrayed is the movie Starving in Suburbia, which features a 17 year old girl named Hannah Warren. Hannah develops anorexia after a friend on her dance teams introduces her to a thinspiration website. As if the thinspiration website spreads as easily as the flu does, Hannah “catches” Anorexia. …show more content…
She is white, already relatively skinny, and comes from an upper middle class family. “When we talk about eating disorders, we need to also talk about how they affect people of all sizes, races, ethnicities, socioeconomic status, men and women, boys and girls," Claire Mysko, CEO of the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA). Where are the films about the 13 year old anorexic child from a lower socioeconomic class and the uninvolved parents? the wealthy 38 year old mother of two who just broke her foot again due to osteoporosis because of prolonged malnutrition? The male who developed anorexia without even knowing what it was, or what was happening until months into the illness? Perpetuating these stereotypes enforces certain things about eating disorders that could actually harm the individuals suffering in real life. If a movie shows that anorexics only display x set of characteristics, someone watching could downplay the severity of their illness, or overlook another’s because certain things may not
Anorexia Nervosa has been a problematic disease many women suffer from. The article “The Slender Trap” was composed by Trina Rys who is a stay at home mother with a husband and one daughter. Rys writes the main reasons a woman may develop anorexia from. She states that the psychological pressures, expectations of friends and family and influences of the media all are factors when a woman is inflicted with the disease. I strongly agree with Rys persuading argument that anorexia could be caused by an unknown identity and the overall main focus of the ideal image of a woman. Although, I believe Rys requires a stronger argument on whether food restrictions executed by parents are a major step to developing the harmful illness. She seems to put emphasize on mainly women but does not shine any light on men.
Thin is a film documentary focusing on four young women receiving treatment for eating disorder. The film took place at the Renfrew Center in Florida. It is a residential facility for treatment of women with an eating disorder. The film introduces the viewer to four women in the facility named Shelly, Polly, Brittany and Alisa. Each of these women have been battling their eating disorders for years. Throughout the film, I observed these women go through routine weight and vital checkup, trying to eat a full meal, and speaking about how this journey is affecting them and those they love.
The documentary Thin focuses on women who suffer from eating disorders in a treatment facility. Currently not many women are educated on the problems they may face when they have an eating disorder. Not only do women themselves understand what is happening to them, the people around them fail to understand why they may have these problems. Throughout the film we are able to focus closely on some of the patients more closely. The patients the film allows us to see closely are Polly, Alisa, Shelly and Brittany. These ladies are all of different ages and are all at different points in treatment.
Eating Disorders, Anorexia and Martha Stewart - The Seduction of Control, Perfection, and Fantasy I have a strange fascination with Martha Stewart. I read Just Desserts by Jerry Oppenheimer and my interest in her peaked: she sounded, as portrayed in that book, as the toxic boss (we’ll call her Sheila, though it is not her real name) from whom I had just "divorced" myself by quitting. I could see Sheila emasculating her husband on a daily basis, screaming obscenities at her employees (that didn’t take much imagination), and plotting to take over the world. Despite these issues, Martha and Sheila alternately inspired me and repelled me.
Out of all mental illnesses found throughout the world, eating disorders have the highest mortality rate. Anorexia nervosa is one of the more common eating disorders found in society, along with bulimia nervosa. Despite having many definitions, anorexia nervosa is simply defined as the refusal to maintain a normal body weight (Michel, 2003). Anorexia nervosa is derived from two Latin words meaning “nervous inability to eat” (Frey, 2002). Although anorexics, those suffering from anorexia, have this “nervous inability to eat,” it does not mean that they do not have an appetite—anorexics literally starve themselves. They feel that they cannot trust or believe their perceptions of hunger and satiation (Abraham, 2008). Anorexics lose at least 15 percent of normal weight for height (Michel, 2003). This amount of weight loss is significant enough to cause malnutrition with impairment of normal bodily functions and rational thinking (Lucas, 2004). Anorexics have an unrealistic view of their bodies—they believe that they are overweight, even if the mirror and friends or family say otherwise. They often weigh themselves because they possess an irrational fear of gaining weight or becoming obese (Abraham, 2008). Many anorexics derive their own self-esteem and self-worth from body weight, size, and shape (“Body Image and Disordered Eating,” 2000). Obsession with becoming increasingly thinner and limiting food intake compromises the health of individuals suffering from anorexia. No matter the amount of weight they lose or how much their health is in jeopardy, anorexics will never be satisfied with their body and will continue to lose more weight.
Our society today is heavily influenced by the media and the imagery it shows. Though it may be indirect, the media provides unhealthy messages about ideal body sizes, gender attractiveness, and weight control that make women view themselves in a negative way. Magazines, television, and movies influence teenage girls on what they believe their body image should be. The images they show set the standard of what is considered physically attractive in our society. With the use of photoshop, media depicts falsified images of models and actresses to create a perfected look that is unattainable by the average woman. This creates a desire among teenage girls to look like these stars that are often shown. When teenage girls look at these images, they compare themselves to those images, and then judge themselves based on these comparisons. These judgements can potentially lead to eating disorders. In order to prevent the risk of eating disorders among teenage girls, the media should depict a typical image of people, rather than idolizing a specific standard of beauty.
The media can impact people’s lives in many ways, whether it’s fashion, movies, literature, or hobbies. One of the impacts is how women view their bodies. Movie stars and models feel pressured to catch attention and to look good in order to have a good career in their respective field. People tend to judge how someone looks based on their body composition. The result of this “judgment” is that Hollywood is getting skinny. Since models and actresses serve as role models for people, people tend to want to look like them. The result of this seemingly harmless model of behavior is in an increase in eating disorders.
In conclusion, society’s influence sparks the initial thought that skinny is pleasurable and desirable. Adolescents will buy into this misconception that they get from the media and society. When this misconception is bought into, it can cause serious consequences as the individual looks for extreme measures of weight control. This weight control can be contained by helping individuals struggling with Anorexia and Bulimia fix their distorted view of themselves, eliminating the negative influence one media source at a time.
To Lily Collins, an actor who has faced problems with anorexia in her own life, said "for me, it was a sign from the world saying, 'This is probably something that is actually bigger than you. There’s a larger thing in play here and both are going to be able to better inform one another, When you have your life’s mission and the mission of a project merge like this so beautifully, that’s like total magic”. Marti Noxon, the director, also faced problems with anorexia, it is what inspired her to come up with this film. “Part of the reason I wanted to make this film was to ignite a discussion about body image issues and eating disorders. It’s not just a film for people with clinical eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia.
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.
...eatable, with the right time, effort, and tools one can overcome anorexia and learn to live a normal, healthy lifestyle, where they are happy and proud of their appearance and weight.
One of my mother’s friends struggles with anorexia. This lady went to school with my mother. In high school, the woman was an average weight for her height. The problem was, she was tall: six foot, two inches. Her height caused her to weigh more than many of the other girls. The lady began shedding pounds near the end of her sophomore year. She kept losing weight until she could no longer play sports. She quit them all and shortly after was hospitalized for two months. Many years later, I met the woman. My mother says she looks just as skinny as her high school years.
In the documentary Thin I noticed that each eating disorder, in terms of the diagnostic criteria, were extremely similar. All the patients in the film suffering from the eating disorders held all or most signs of the diagnostic criteria. All of the women refused to maintain a body weight that was normal for their age or height, and when they ate or gained a little weight they grew anxious and fearful of becoming fat, even though they were clearly underweight. Many of the patients were also in denial of the seriousness of there unhealthy and deadly body weight. All their self esteem or self evaluation was based solely on thinness, and the women were completely convinced that they were fat showing their struggle with body dysmorphia. When one
Overall, eating disorders are considered the third common illness for adolescent girls (Weber, Davis & McPhie, 2006). Anorexia Nervosa, anorexia, is an eating disorder that affects the way a person sees themselves and results in a person having a powerful fear of gaining weight (Scott, Hanstock & Patterson-Kane, Individuals that typically suffer from anorexia limits the amount of food that they eat and view themselves as overweight. Anorexia is characterized by emaciation, distorted body image and no menses. Despite their constant thoughts about food, an individual with anorexia has a small body weight for their height. People with anorexia have a tendency to believe that they are fat and develop bad eating habits. For example, some people with anorexia skip meals, do not eat in front of others or abuse laxatives to lose weight. Significant weight loss over a short period of time causes horrendous health conditions. Damage to vital organs can lead to death. According to Womenshealth.gov, the average length of someone with anorexia nervosa is five to seven years (2009). In a world that is obsessed to be thin, toxic environments and thoughts must be examined and challenged.
Relevance of topic to audience: Now I’m sure you’re all wondering “OK, what does this have to do with me?” A key reason I wanted to present this topic to you all is because the majority of us in this room fit the criteria for being at risk for an eating disorder. According to Debbie Stanley, an influential member of National Alliance on Mental Illness and author of many books on anorexia including Understanding Anorexia Nervosa, the typical anorexic is a white adolescent female, though males do make up a small percentage them.