1. Know The Facts
Eating disorders stem from the feeling among women of not being good enough. The main types of eating disorders are Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Binge Eating Disorder. The causes of these disorders include sociocultural factors, family factors, and low self esteem. However, anorexia and bulimia are the main types that can be contributed to the media portrayals of women. Additionally, disorders are prevalent mostly among women. In fact, they are about ten times more common in women than in men. Although it cannot be directly stated that the media causes eating disorders in women, numerous studies have shown a strong correlation. Over time, the media use has increased dramatically, along with the idealization of being thin. As this is occuring, a rise in eating disorders have been observed and noted. Constantly watching television or reading magazines with overly thin actresses and models can bring about extreme self dissatisfaction among women. The more a woman has an issue with her body, the more likely she is to engage in unhealthy eating habits categorized as disordered. Although the media is not solely to blame for the rise in eating disorders, it can be given some of the blame. This is the case especially when the individual woman has large media consumption combined with other factors that can be contributed to eating disorders, such as depression or childhood trauma and abuse.
2. Where's the Proof?
Studies have been conducted that show a strong correlation between media consumption and eating disorders among women. One particular study conducted by Kristen Harrison and Joanne Cantor examined this relationship among women in college. It looked at the women's media consumption versus their disordered-eating symptomatology, body dissatisfaction, and drive for thinness. Unlike other studies, this one also examined the effect that men have on women's eating disorders, including their preference for thin women. The study took 232 female undergraduate students and presented them with questionnaires and surveys. The questions inquired about each woman's average media usage, and also included the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT) and the Eating Disorders Inventory (EDI) to measure her disordered eating, body dissatisfaction and perfectionism. The study considered different types of magazines in relation to the woman's EAT score and found that fitness magazines correlated with the highest EAT score. The next highest score was associated with fashion magazines, followed by news magazines, then gossip magazines. Contrary to the hypothesis, there was no relationship supported between watching television shows with thin actresses and eating disorder symptomatology. However, the study did conclude that there is a relationship between these television shows consumption and body dissatisfaction. Overall, this study illustrates that there is a relationship between how much media a woman consumes and their likeliness for developing an eating disorder.
3. The Evolution
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Many women with eating disorders aspire to look like all the models and actresses in the media. However, these are often very unrealistic and photo-shopped images. As the above video shows, an average looking woman can turn into a "perfect" looking woman with make up and editing. This is often the case for thinness as well. Most models are touched-up to appear even thinner than they really are, furthering the discrepancy between the ideal body and the average woman in the United States. The digital manipulation of models is used to edit all features, including body size, leg length, and skin color. The editing and manipulating of body size takes already thin models and makes them even more unrealistically thin. Additionally, women's magazines are shown to be the most influential way to promote this thin-ideal image. Therefore, digital manipulation will further lower lower self-esteem among women. Even though a relatively small amount of women will develop eating disorders due to this ideal, the psychological effects can still be extremely damaging.
4. The Media Can Kill You - Literally
Among all disorders, eating disorders have the highest mortality rate. This is due to the fact that people struggling with eating disorders live extremely unhealthy lifestyles. Those with anorexia eat very little food, largely increasing the chances of long term health problems, and even starving to death. For example, many people with anorexia end up with an increased risk of heart disease, kidney failure, or osteoporosis. Women with bulimia also also have a high chance at sever long term complications from the binge eating and purging. For example, many bulimics may end up with inflammation or rupture of the esophagus, tooth decay, peptic ulcers, and pancreatisis. Occasionally, severe eating disorders have the potential to lead to death in both short term and long term situations. This high mortality rate can also be contributed to suicide, due to almost half of women suffering with eating disorders also suffering with depression. Again, this can be contributed to the media through its unrealistic portrayal of women. Women often feel severe pressures to be thin after constantly seeing this in magazines, advertisements, and television. The pressure often leads to low self esteem. In turn, this can lead to depression, which is also closely related to the development of eating disorders. A study conducted on the mortality rate of eating disorders discovered a mortality rate of 5.1%. Among 246 women diagnosed with either anorexia or bulimia, seven died after 11 years. Additionally, among the seven deaths, three were suicides. This study illustrates the dangers of allowing the portrayals of women in the media to control your life.
5. I'm a Barbie Girl, Living in a Barbie World
This may be a line from a catchy song, however it is also the basis of a sad reality. In the United States, we really are living in a "barbie world," with all models and actresses being portrayed similar to Barbie. From a young age, girls are surrounded by the ideal thin body type. As early as elementary school, girls are given barbies to play with illustrating what they should aim to look like. Girls play with these dolls and subconsciously realize that's how thin they should be too. The problem is exemplified through statistics, showing that 42% of 1st to 3rd graders wish to be thinner, and that 81% of ten year olds are scared to become fat. This brings about a huge problem because girls that young should not be worrying about their weight or appearance, yet they are. Plus, the ideal woman that is shown in the media is fifteen percent thinner than the average woman in the United States, and this thin-ideal image has also become increasingly thinner over the last decades. As a result, this body type is biologically impossible for most woman. This impossiblility causes woman to constantly compare themselves to the media's idea of perfect femininity, resulting in a feeling of inadequacy that can go on to cause disorders, such as depression and most of all, eating disorders. The ideal thin model causes girls and women to believe that the only way to be loved or to be popular is to be perfectly thin, driving many to habits such as starvation, vomiting, or extreme exercising.
6. Lose 10 Pounds in One Week With This Amazing Diet!
Everyone has seen these ridiculous diets, promising an abnormal amount of weight loss in an extremely short period of time. The prevalence of get thin quick diets is another problem with the media. There is an extremely large amount of ads in magazines and commercials on televisions advocating for these diets, which are unhealthy and often promise unattainable results. Plus, the dieting methods often do not incorporate exercise, further demonstrating the lack of health incentive involved. The dieting guidelines are mostly attained through methods considered as starvation, contributing to disordered eating. Even if these diets provide a temporary drop in weight, long term results are almost unheard of. This is due to the fact that the time spent eating very little causes your metabolism to shrink. As a result, once the woman resumes normal eating habits, she often gains back even more weight then before. The frustration caused by unhealthy dieting may lead to further self esteem issues, again contributing to the development of an eating disorder. Obesity is becoming more prevalent at the same time as the ideal body image is becoming thinner. This is creating a large market for diets, no matter how ridiculous they may be. In fact, there is an estimate of over 200 billion dollars spent on weight loss products and services worldwide each year. As shown, excessive dieting is an issue for women living in the United States due to their ineffectiveness and unhealthiness. Truly healthy diets are almost unheard of and many women don't even know where to start. The idea of dieting is often associated with starvation, leaving women to believe that eating disorders are the only way to reach this ideal body image.
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