Body Image Eating Disorders and Obesity by Thompson Essay

Eating disorders is an issue that women have been facing throughout history, yet there are different factors that have been associated with African American women opposed to other racial groups. Research has been done to prove that environmental factors, cultural factors, different types of identity, and others are the cause of these disorders. It is possible African American Women might have different factors than women of other minorities, due to racial segregation and treatment throughout time. The objectification theory (Fredrickson and Roberts, 1997) suggests that today’s culture plays a significant role in viewing the female body as an object, which can lead to self-consciousness, mental health disorders, and eating disorders. Yet in specifically African American women, this can also cause shame of their racial identity in addition to body image.

In the essay “The Globalization of Eating Disorders” by Susan Bordo speaks about eating disorders. In society today appearance is a huge factor. Even though appearance has always been a major thing but now day’s people take it to the extreme when trying to have a certain body image. Now day’s people think beauty is whatever is on the outside, instead of the inside and the outside. Most people go on crazy strict diets, surgery and some go through starvation in order to become a certain body size. Eating disorders are becoming more in effect now and not just in the United States , but happens to be going worldwide and not only with just the women, but now with men as well. Within the essay Bordo’s explains about how the body image, media, and culture influence the standard of the beauty leads to eating disorder. Another factor is family that causes someone to form an eating disorder. Those four factors are the main key roles that play apart on how eating disorders are being used.

Helwig begins her article by drawing attention to the idea that it is “normal for North American women to have eating disorders” (Helwig 1). Pointing this out makes the audience think about how often they notice someone with an eating disorder, and when they do if they are shocked. It also makes the audience consider how they react when they discover someone has an eating disorder, and it makes them wonder if they would truly be concerned, or even surprised. The amounts of people with an eating disorder continues to grow every day all across the United States, but the highest numbers of eating disorders are found among “well-off young women” (Helwig 3). Eight out of every ten

It has been found that eating disorders are most common in the western and industrialized culture where food is abundant. This is because these individuals attach a lot of importance to their physical appearance and are willing to do anything to get the dream figure. An eating disorder is not just watching what one eats and exercising on a daily basis but is rather an illness that causes serious disturbances in eating behaviour, such as great and harmful cutback of the consumption of food as well as feelings of serious anxiety about their body shape or mass. They would start to stop themselves to go out anywhere just so that they could work out and burn all of the calories of a meal or snack that they had scoffed earlier. Two of the most common eating disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. The regular description of a patient with either disease would be a youthful white female, with an upper social standing in a predictably socially competitive environment.

Did you know that eating disorders have some of the most shocking- not to mention frightening, statistics compared to all other mental disorders? Not only do eating disorders have the highest mortality rate compared to any other mental illness, but over 30 million people of all ages, genders, and races suffer from eating disorders. Although all ages can suffer from eating disorders it is most common among teenagers and women. Many books have been written, displaying the intense mental and obviously physical struggles of this sickness. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson has become very popular over the years as well as Perfect written by Natasha Friend. Eating disorders have also continuously been glamorized in movies and songs. In Civil War Sickness directed by Isa Gueye, she tells about her recovery as well as her struggles

In America today, there are unrealistic beauty standards women must face daily. When women can not meet this idea of perfection pushed by society, some women will risk their health just to fit a cultural stigma. Women are held to an insanely high criterion when it comes to beauty which tends to lead to negative body image. Ten percent of women in The United States of America report symptoms consistent with eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating. Which concludes that a total of 75 percent of all American women endorse some unhealthy thoughts, feelings, or behaviors related to food or their body image-UNC Medical Department Although eating disorders are not subjective to women only, after reading “Beating Anorexia and Gaining Feminism” Marni Grossman and “Feminism and Anorexia: A Complex Alliance” Su Holmes, I will discuss how eating disorders coexist in the lives of women who struggle with body image, and what feminism can do to give these women a second chance.

The author is not even preventing from people having eating disorders or giving advice or suggestions. Mim Udovitch is just presenting the audience with facts and experiences from people suffering from anorexia or bulimia. The article is just making the problems of high fatal rates of mental illness from people suffering from bulimia and anorexia obvious to the adults. The group of people that mainly read The New York Times is adults. Ken Jackson believes that The New York Times should be publishing articles about people who want help and methods of helping them. The true meaning behind the article is not being shown because the article is covered with facts and experiences. The author did not stress enough on improving the lives of many individuals suffering from eating disorders. Udovitch should be inspiring people with eating disorders to treat themselves and seek help.

     Something that Mary Pipher has brought up in the first chapter of her book was how society is causing young women to suffer many different problems. One of the most common and worst problems that arise is eating disorders. The media may be the culprit for this issue. Girls who are striving to be thin, and fit the mold of a star may never reach their goal, under natural conditions. As a result

Although a great deal of early research on body image and eating disorders focused on upper/middle class Caucasians living in America or under the influence of Western ideals, many researchers are realizing that eating disorders are not isolated to this particular group. They are also realizing the differences in body image between occur in different races and genders (Pate, Pumariega, Hester 1992). Recently, several studies have shown that eating disorders transcend these specific guidelines, and increasingly, researchers are looking at male/female differences, cross-cultural variation and variation within cultures as well. It is impossible to broach the concept of body image without

In longing to reach the norm many people fall victim to these detrimental illnesses. Sadly, women are more subject to these eating disorders than men, the number of men suffering from eating disorders is on the rise. Our culture puts pressure on each of its inhabitants to attain this ideal body type that is unrealistic for most people. The images that pollute television and magazines make us all feel inadequate if we don't meet the credentials of slenderness; therefore, continuing the role of our society in the development of eating disorders.

An eating disorder is an illness that involves an unhealthy feeling about the food we eat. “Eating disorders affect 5-10 millions Americans and 70 million individuals worldwide” (www.eatingdisorderinfo.org 1). They also affect many people from women, men, children, from all ages and different races. People who have eating disorders usually see themselves as being fat when they really aren’t. This usually deals with women or teenage girls mostly. They watch television, movies, read articles in magazines, and see pictures of the celebrities whom they want to be like because they have the “ideal body” that everyone wants and craves for. The media makes us all think we need those types of bodies to be happy with ourselves, be more successful

The amount of males that are unsatisfied with their bodies has tripled in the last twenty-five years. According to Helen Fawkner, doctor of philosophy, it has increased from fifteen percent of the male population to forty-five percent. It is an extremely severe problem that most people are not aware of. It can lead to suicidal thoughts, self-harm, and eating disorders, but the majority of people think that males do not have to worry about it as much as females. However, they have the same amount of pressure to have the perfect figure as females, it is just not delineated. Body image and eating disorders are not just female problems, men go through the same issues.

It is funny how so many girls and women today are led to believe that the only way to feel attractive and be beautiful is to have their bodies consist of nothing but skin and bones. Women are dieting more today then they have ever been before. They are striving for an unattainable body figure that is portrayed by the media as being the ideal standard for today's women. It gets worse. Not only are women dieting unlike ever before, but they will ruthlessly harm their bodies in order to achieve these inaccessible standards. This ruthless harm that haunts so many women today just so happens to be what we call eating disorders. Anorexia and bulimia are the primary diseases that go in the category of eating

One of the implications for the Carl’s Jr.’s advertisement of their new burger is that it portrays unrealistic goals for women. The commercial sexualizes women, and more particularly white women. The body ideal in the commercial is white, young, thin, sexual, vulnerable and attractive, which matches the general preferred type of women in media (Wood 243). The women are sexualized eating a burger, which does not even make much sense when looking at their bodies. The women watching this commercial and striving to get this body ideal, are not going to be eating many of these kinds of burgers if they want to achieve the unrealistic body type. However, this is typical for advertisement. No matter what the commercial is trying to advertise, sexually objected women can be used to sell it (Wood 242). Not only are the females portrayed stereotypically in this commercial but the stereotypical man is also depicted. The desirable image of men in general is shown “as strong, aggressive, and dominant” (Wood 243) and that is exactly how the men are depicted in this commercial. The white masculinity is praised and the male characters are shown with big muscles and beards. Their posture also contributes to the stereotypical picture of a masculine man. As mentioned earlier, their widespread legs illustrate power and dominance. Lastly, the fact that the men are focused on skimpy dressed women, makes them sexual aggressors.

“More people die from eating disorders than any other psychiatric condition,” states the website Everyday Health. What are eating disorders? They are very serious and life-threatening illnesses that affect a person’s eating behavior/behaviors. Everyday Health also says, “According to the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), 20 million women currently living in the United States will suffer from an eating disorder at some point in their lives.” Most eating disorders are directly related to beauty because they are characterized by a distorted perception of the body and self-image. In today’s society beauty is often the basis by which women are judged. Yet beauty is dangerous and unhealthy; it distorts the way women see themselves, and causes emotional, physical and relational problems.