Facts About Eating Disorders And Gender Socialization

Eating Disorders we think about are, Anorexia Nervosa, and Bulimia Nervosa. Binge Eating Disorder is lesser known however all three can affect males and females (Gray & Zide, 2013). A definition of an eating disorder is an illness that is characterized by irregular eating habits and an obsession with body weight and shape. This leads the person to develop habits surrounding inadequate or excessive food intake. Eating disorders may develop at any age, but typically develops during teen and early adult years. Eating disorders frequently coexist with other disorders such as, anxiety disorders, substance abuse and depression.

Socialization is the process through which people learn the language, norms, values, behaviors and other aspects of culture that a particular society views as acceptable. It is important for humans because it allows us to learn about our culture and it contributes to our personality.

Socialization is “the lifelong process of social interaction through which individuals acquire a self-identity and the physical, mental, and social skills needed for survival in society” (Kendall 87). In other words, this is the time when the individual figures out who they are, what they feel, and what they think in order to participate in society. This is where we learn role taking, how to control our behavior, and how to communicate with others (Kendal 87).

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.

Socialization is the lifelong process through which people learn culture and become functioning members of society. Socialization establishes our social identity, teaches us role taking, controls our behavior, and transmits culture to the next generation (Introduction to Sociology, 2015). We are who we are because of socialization. Culture that is passed to the next generation are languages, beliefs, norms, valves, and symbols.

That socialization is the process by which we learn culture and become functioning social members. Gender socialization explains what is expected cultural behavior related to masculinity and femininity. I have also learned that gender role socialization in children is patterned by important cultural factors such as race and social class.

The gender of a person is the masculine or feminine attributes of that individual with respect to the psychological and biological role in society. (Magar, 2009) A gender role can be defined as the way that a person lives in society with respect to its lifestyle. It can be argued that over time the major differences between men and women’s gender roles have faded. In the past traditional roles have been based in their society by their biological orientation. (Magar, 2009) Gender roles can also be described as the behavior and attitudes that are expected of men and women in a society. (Faqs.org, 2011) Although different cultures impose different expectations, many cultures have the same basic gender roles.

Gender socialization takes place in our everyday lives whether we subconsciously know it or not. Gender socialization is the socially learned expectations and behaviors associated with members of each gender. For example, If I were to say it takes my friend at least 45 minutes to do their hair before school everyday, you would assume I am speaking about a friend who is a female as opposed to a friend who is male. This is because of the idea of gender socialization.

1 in 200 American Women suffers from bulimia. – South Carolina Department of Mental Health

Gender roles are the standards set by a society for each of the genders. Most people will not have a problem with the gender roles established but they can be very harmful to some people. Basic gender roles consist of women being associated with the color pink and men being associated with blue. Roles like these set the norms for our society and determine in the long run what is acceptable and not.

Socialization is a term used by sociologists, social psychologists, anthropologists, political scientists, and educationalists to refer to the lifelong process which takes place in community during the early days of life. It is the process in which people learn the skills, knowledges, values, motives, and culture of the groups raised and belongs into. We all are exposed to the society and the interaction among us is what means by socialization. Family, school, university are major forms of socialization.

occur when a person is so extremely focused on body weight and food that they

Socialization is the process by which culture is learned; also called enculturation. During socialization individuals internalize a culture's social controls, along with values and norms about right and wrong. Socialization is a complex process that involves many individuals, groups, and social institutions.

Socialization is a learning process that begins after birth. People act in accordance to the feedback and reactions they get from others. We learn who we are by family, friends, and the people around us. Socialization is an important process of our personality, language and behavior. It is not always a conscious or an intentional transference, and people are not always aware that they might be influencing someone in a social situation. The very structure of authority and the responsibility of families, schools, and media may determine which values, attitudes, and beliefs people adopt.

Everyone is born without culture and unfamiliar with what socialization is and how to socialize. Socialization is a specific sociological technique that transpires through engaging with family, friends, and coworkers. By learning and understanding the expectations and societal norms, acquire society’s beliefs and familiar with societal values (Keirns, 2015). The process of socialization is taught not long after birth and then throughout all our lives. This is how we become effective human beings in society. As we develop from birth, we acquire gender roles, our parents nurture us, and growing older, we acquire a status within social groups.