Zael - Eating Disorders and Body Image

Zael Ellenhorn

Eating disorders are prevalent in more cases than it would seem. They affect more than 7 million American women and 70 million people worldwide. Because of the culture that we live in of skinny models and actresses, being very skinny is a body image that most girls these days want to have, as it is seen as very sexy. However, because of this, girls are now taking it to extremes and that includes eating disorders. Today, 90 percent of high school age girls think that they are overweight.  Thats a shockingly high amount. The reason for that is that when you look around in the media and in society, skinny and no body fat is the image of sexiness for most women. Because of that, teenagers especially will do whatever it takes to achieve that body type.

However, to contrast that, in the introduction, the author states that it is too easy to blame the mass media and the fashion magazines. She says that there is something more to these eating disorders, and that may be true. Having said that, no girl is born knowing that skinny is sexy. It is taught. So while it is definitely true that it is too easy to point a finger at “the media” or “society,” societal norms that are expressed through the media are absolutely a factor in women’s health when it comes to body image and eating disorders. If there was no pressure from outside sources, no societal norm, then they wouldn’t worry about the way that their body looked because they would have no reason to and no pressure to look a certain way.

The idea of perfection, especially in sports, is one that translates into every day life. When Title IX comes up in this reading, the author talks about how while sports for girls are a great way to raise confidence and self-esteem, as she was also told by her father, they also can create and aid eating disorders. The statistics that come from this are shocking. 16 percent of all female athletes have intense drives for thinness, and another 13 percent have full blown eating disorders. That means that of all the female athletes that exist in the world...29 percent of them have a problem with their bodies or with food. This striving for perfection that sports teaches can be beneficial in your every day life, but when that drive is translated into something unhealthy, such as an eating disorder, that perfection becomes a little less perfect.

The other reason that this is a problem with women now is because of the culture of expectation. While men do have expectations to live up to, women have many more. Through stereotypes, oppression, societal norms, and actually just being a woman in the modern day and age, girls go through much more than guys realize or go through themselves. There is nothing perfect about being a girl. No matter what, it seems like they are always on one end of the spectrum, and that could have something to do with eating disorders. If a girl hooks up with a lot of guys, she’s a slut. If she doesn’t she’s a prude. If she’s thin, then she’s too skinny. If she’s bigger, then she needs to lose weight. It is this impossible middle, this weird space where girls try to fit in that creates these insecurities and therefore creates eating disorders. The pursuit of perfection is something that we all have inside of us, to different degrees of course. However, in todays modern society, and with the culture surrounding women, it makes sense that that pursuit may have gone a little bit too far, especially when it comes to eating disorders and body image. 

In Dworkin and Wachs, they discuss feminine ideals and shifting social behaviors when it comes to women and their roles in society. What used to be a housewife is now a woman with a career. A father who works 9-5 and comes home to a beer and the baseball game while letting his wife deal with the kids is not something that is as common as it was in the 1960’s. Women these days are powerful, and with that value comes responsibility. In the article, it is stated that “many argue that valuations ahve now moved thoward appearances within consumption-based postindustrial society. Obtaining a valued appearance requires the consumption of a host of goods and services that assist individuals in adhering to an ever-changing set of gendered ideals.” What that is really saying is that now that women leave the house, there is an immense beauty industry, and that is one of the main causes in eating disorders. So indirectly, in this case, the valuation of women in society has lead to an increase in eating disorders because it is associated with the fashion and beauty industry, along with the idea of fitness. It was also very interesting to read about how the women were relieved when they were pregnant, because they were forced to focus on the functionality of their bodies rather than the appearance, when today, appearance is everything even if it causes you bodily harm or makes you unhealthy. However, post pregnancy, all of those bodily worries and insecurities return with a vengeance in the form of extra weight and therefore extra pressure to lose it. Pregnancy can be a 9 month break from worrying about how your body looks, but the real world always returns.