Warning. This blog is
fucking monstrous. It’s good, I swear, so stick with it!
Over the past few weeks, I think we’ve come a pretty
long way, baby. We’ve not only explored what it means to have an eating
disorder, what eating disorders are, their cultural roots and their
biological/psychological roots, but I feel I’ve done a pretty damned good job
at tying in why this shit is so very important to our existence as people
within a society that is full of mixed messages, media images and psychological
bombardment at every turn. I’m learning just as much along the way as you guys
are, but I feel that with this blog, I need to take a bit of a step back from
the academic side of things. I have been so heavily focused on introducing this
topic not only as what it is at a surface value, but bringing in as much
sociological analysis as humanly possible while still trying to make the
reading fun, enlightening, and easy(ish) to get through.
As my second to last blog post for credit, I thought
I’d make this one a little special. It is essentially the lead in to my fat
blog, the post I’ve been itching to get at for some time now. I cannot,
however, possibly write about fatism, body shame, and how carrying some extra
pounds has been portrayed as a fate worse than death without first talking a
little bit about how the media actually influences us as a socialization agent
(and a prevalent one at that) to be dissatisfied with ourselves in the first
place. Before I get to that, however, I want to take a bit of time to address
one of the consequences suffered by those with eating disorders at the hand of
these media (mis)representations and advertising messages
ED:
Myths, Misconceptions, and Just Plain Bullshit
So, I’ve said it before, culture and societal ideals
that are constantly changing and shifting have a huge hand in the triggers to
eating disorders and play a major role in the perpetuation of eating disorder
culture. Though they are not the be all end all, they take the first place
medal when it comes to the perpetuation of the knowledge we have regarding such
issues as disordered eating, what it is, where it comes from, and how it is
received within society itself. Popular culture, the media, and advertisements
are very powerful in the perpetuation of not only dominant ideology when it
comes to times of war, times of struggle, and times of joy, but also dictates
much of the accessibility people in general have to a topic – essentially the
media is where many people receive the majority of their education (and if you
don’t see something wrong with that, run. Run now). This is more and more common
among the children in or society, but I’ll get to that later.
Now.
Eating disorders themselves, or ideas surrounding
those who are unfortunate enough to have been graced with an ED of their own have
more often than not been built, shaped, packaged and repackaged by the media
and advertising (especially magazines, television shows and commercials and
talk shows) as the embodiment of a certain list of symptoms that are
personified by an individual who looks and acts in a specific way, has specific
habits, comes from a specific background, and so on. It’s akin to
stereotyping different races of people. In the past, the way a person looked dictated just about everything there
was to “know” about them. Historically, a person with dark skin may be assumed
to be a lesser human being, or is unintelligent or savage – just because of
their skin color. I’m not saying this sort of shit doesn’t happen today, but
historically, stereotyping was a legitimate form of knowledge. It helps us
develop love and hated for others, and makes it easier to dehumanize, other,
and ostracize entire populations. In essence, stereotyping, or in this case,
lack of education and proper knowledge, is harmful, and causes problems – not only
for those being stereotyped, but for those doing the stereotyping. There are
risks of the typed group embodying those characteristics, maintaining the
incorrect idea of the dominant force, and then there’s the dominant group
itself, walking around thinking they know what they’re talking about
(Ewen & Ewen 2008) ! It’s
bullshit, I say, and it doesn’t only apply to racism. I would argue that the
stereotypes surrounding ED and those in a relationship with ED are preventing
people from knowing the truths and facts behind this disorder (like the fact that
they are extremely biologically
based). This is a big problem. I’ve said this before, but ED kills more people
than any other psychological disorder, doesn’t that in itself scream that we
need to draw some attention to the issue and educate the public about it!?
Eating Disorders are far more prevalent within society than we think they are,
so much so that it floors me that they aren’t talked about in a more serious
manner.
So, I’m going to give you an overview on how this is
going to work. This is a vast topic, and I could be writing for miles if I didn’t
make some sort of game plan (it makes navigating this post a little easier for
you aswell).
Order of Events:
- Myths and Misconceptions
- The Media (How it effects the ideas surrounding ED, why it is so prevalent)
- Media Literacy (Some positive resistance)
Myths
and Misconceptions
I’ll admit, when I was younger, I had a picture
painted in my mind as to what a person with an eating disorder looked like.
Mainly an idea of “the Anorexic” – SHE was a bone rack, a scary skinny, skeleton
lady who can barely walk, eats a half a cup of bran flakes a day and weighs 65
lbs. I also thought that having an eating disorder had everything to do with
appearance, and the physical aspect of weight loss. I had no idea that it was
considered a psychological illness until several years ago (at some point in
high school). Now, I’m not saying that this extreme does not exist. People get
very, VERY sick, and they deserve as much help and attention as the next. This
ideal I had however, this stereotype… I learned it from watching television.
Dr. Phil to be exact. I associated what I saw to be applicable to the other
situations in life that had to do with this topic. Anorexic people were skinny,
miserable women. I won’t lie – this stereotype stuck with me from time to time
during my struggle with my diagnosis. I remember thinking things like “but, I’m
not skinny enough to have anorexia”, or “I’m afraid people won’t believe that I’m
sick because I don’t look anorexic”.
These irrational thought patterns aren’t cool, but it’s interesting the lasting
influence these stereotypes have had within my mind.
Do a google search of myths and misconceptions
surrounding anorexia – you’ll learn a lot, promise. I used internet searches
not only to confirm what I felt were the circulating myths surrounding ED, but
to get a bit more info and insight into what people think about these myths,
and the way they characterize the truths attached to them. So, here is a list
of some of my favorite myths that I have come across not only online, but
within my experience with ED. Remember, these are myths. This means they are not truths.
They are far from truths:
Individuals
with anorexia are just trying to get attention
- This one is interesting because I feel as if other issues that have been deemed “attention seeking” behaviors as well, such as cutting or self-harm link to this particular myth. Though this may be true for some people as a cry for help, when caught in the throws of an ED, you are definitely not wanting any attention because of it. More often than not people with an ED avoid people at all costs, making this a little counter-productive. Keep in mind, ED plays on the brain. What could have started out as a cry for help develops into much more. The person then, is not looking for attention, but is stuck within ED’s cycle.
Anorexia
is about vanity. If a person with anorexia says ‘I feel fat’, it is just to get
compliments.
- Anorexia is more about trying to gain control over one aspect of your life or another, or is a way people deal with pain – akin to an alcoholic or drug addict. This myth pisses me off. Though some Pro-ED individuals may fish for compliments in order to act as a trigger to drive their ED, I can personally say that when I ‘feel’ fat, I don’t go around telling people that in order to get reassurance about how skinny and sick I look. I can recognize that this is ED talking, and he wants me to turn to him, not recovery.
People
choose Anorexia
- Fuck, I could write a book about this. I have been accused of this by people very close to me. I know that people in my position have also been accused of this. ED is an illness that chooses you, you do not choose ED. What I think the misconception is here is that ED starts out as a "harmless" diet in some cases. Dieting is a choice. When things go too far, well, the choice is out of your hands. It hurts me that some people I know do not fully understand this, but I can’t blame them for what they may understand at face value.
Eating
Disorders are primarily about food and weight
- It isn’t solely a problem with food. Restriction, fasting, purging… All of that … it’s signs of other underlying issues within the lives of those affected.
Anorexia
is a rich, white girl problem
- I laughed out loud at this one (a common one that came up in my google searches). More and more research is pointing to this as absolute bullshit. Anyone can be predisposed to a disorder. Like I’ve mentioned in previous blogs – it’s the triggers that are shifting, changing, and becoming more prevalent. Western culture and ideals are on the rise and are pretty much dominating the world. People of other races, cultures, and ethnicity seem to be adopting them, and a correlation between that and the prevalence of eating disorders within their social groups exists (more about this later).
- We can’t forget about the guys, either! Yes, most affected by ED are young females, but boys and men also suffer. According to recoveryranch.com, the number of men seeking help has doubled over the past decade making men representative of 10% of those affected.
People
with Anorexia do not engage in binge eating
- Binging can be caused by chemical triggers in the brain that are brought about by certain foods we eat that act as appetite stimulants. Some people are more susceptible than others, but just about everyone is capable of binging (however, the more clinical definition of “binge” in which a person may black out or lose consciousness while eating is not as common). Plenty of anorexics develop bulimic tendencies as they start refeeding their bodies. In my case, I get hungry AFTER I eat. It’s my body realizing that it can have food. It fights back against ED and wants me to stock up on food in case I starve again. Sometimes I feel that if I give into the hunger, I will not stop. So yes, that puts me at risk of a binge, and I am not the only one. The inability to regain control over the satiety center of your brain is one of the underlying causes of this.
A
person cannot have Anorexia if they eat three meals a day
- Untrue! Bullshit! Not eating at all (fasting) is not the only means of food restriction (I should know). A person may limit the types of food they eat, or the amount (a cup of dry cereal and fourteen grapes for lunch, for example). A person may eat normally for a day or two and then follow up with days of fasting. They may only eat a certain kind of food (this includes eating only junk food, certain soups, or a certain type of vegetable).
- I eat three “meals” a day (which are getting to be more “normal person” like as the days go by) and two snacks. I am starving to death. It’s not about what you do, it’s about how you do it in this case.
Anorexia
is all about control
- I can see some truth in this, but I think the misconception lies in the fact that the person who is sick may feel as if he or she is in control of themselves when they participate in their ED behavior. They may control food in order to feel as if they’ve gained mastery over some other uncontrollable aspect of their lives. In all reality, it’s ED that controls you. It becomes a coping mechanism and really is all about your lack of control.
Other myths I have come in contact with include “you
see a fat person when you look in the mirror” (which I argue against. I see a
very skinny, frail body, but I am guilty of cutting myself into pieces and
focusing on how certain parts of me are “fat”… Almost like the fragmentation of
women in media), “Anorexics don’t get hungry and don’t like food” (trust me, we’re
hungry people. We’re starving to death, for fuck sakes. Food is an obsession
above all else. An obsession and an enemy), or that if a person is thin, they
must be anorexic.
That last one is troubling. Someone may have a thin
body type, they may have a sickness that is not anorexia that causes severe
weight loss, or they could be of a completely normal weight, even “overweight”.
Remember, many people with bulimia maintain “normal” body weights. They are
still sick, but you may not be able to tell by their appearance. In the case of
anorexia – the image of the bone rack is quite popular. Starvation, however, is
starvation. I’ll have to go on a hunt for the article, but I remember reading
about a man who was severely overweight – to the point of morbid obesity. He
died of starvation and had many symptoms of anorexia. Sad, yes, but very
interesting.
The
Media
OK, so we’ve seen a few of my favorites when it
comes to some of the myths surrounding ED, more specifically anorexia. It makes
us ask ourselves – where the eff does this nonsense come from!? I know I’ve
wondered this more than once over the course of the past couple of years, and
especially within the past couple of months. It seems all fingers of blame are
pointed toward the media. In my opinion, that’s kind of unfair. I mean,
Spettigue and Henderson (2004) raise the idea that because we are all exposed
to the mass media and there is no escaping it, why doesn’t everyone on the face
of the planet have an eating disorder? Good fuckin’ point, Spettigue and
Henderson, good fuckin’ point! It’s like I said before, the triggers are
changing. That which influences us and socializes us is shifting constantly,
shoving ideals, dominant ideologies, and expectations at us at every twist and
turn – but that is not the cause of these disorders, they are simply a vehicle
for provocation just as influences such as biology, family, friends, and
teachers play a part on what influences life. In simple terms, it can be the
brain’s fault; the media just gives it the kicker. How is this happening, you might ask? Well, I’ve
got a few examples for you.
One way in which we can see the media making
prevalent ED all around the world is through studying the effects of Western
media in other places and within other cultures. Exposure to theWestern ideal
changes perceptions people have about their bodies, and therefore may lead to susceptibility
to falling into disordered eating patterns. The Body Project (2012) highlights
the prevalence of media and its effect on eating disorders through providing us
with a bit of research done originally by Anne Becker and Rebecca Burwell of
the Harvard Eating DisorderCenter in 1999. Essentially they found that media
exposureincreased the incidence of ED within the island nation of Figi. Before
the introduction of Western television, the body ideals surrounding
beauty included larger bodies (bodies classified as obese in the West). These
bodies were evidence of high status and health. Three years after Western
television had been introduced, that number of women who reported using vomiting
to control their weight increased 5 fold and a larger number of girls felt “too
fat” and reported trying dieting. Essentially the more TV that was watched, the
more body dissatisfaction there was. (Important to remember here is that TV
didn’t cause the women to develop Eating Disordered behavior – if it was the
cause, then they would all have suffered. It was a vehicle).
The media, is essentially giving us mixed messages
about our bodies. It influences us to go against what is actually meant to be
(e.g.: women naturally carry extra weight because we make babies, deal with it).
Being exposed constantly to figures of the new feminine ideal not only risks
increasing body dissatisfaction among women but heightens the feelings of
needing to change, and may influence those heterosexual males out there to
favor the thin female body (a body that is impossible to obtain by most)
(Harrison and Cantor 1997). Then there’s the whole crash diet market and the
magazines that advertise a way to lose weight fast that shares a page with a
recipe for double chocolatey killer brownies with nuts, fudge and whipped
cream. It’s akin to the “be sexy, not sexual”, double standard. Treat yourself,
but know how to become thin (and therefore beautiful). It especially ties in
sexuality when we look at the way food is advertised. It’s advertised as
indulgence from which you must exert control and restrain yourself from. Food
is a seductress trying to ruin your life. There are good girls who resist and
bad girls who give into temptation. It’s a little tiring. Of course, this is
marketing. They need to sell a product. In order to do this they need to make
people feel they need to product. If you make people feel bad about their
bodies and then present a solution, then by God people should hop on the band
wagon (even if that band wagon may support restricted calorie diets, glorify
restriction as a healthy diet behavior, or use pills to make you feel full so
you do not have to eat).
Interestingly enough, it’s women’s magazines that
show diet ads 10.5 times more than men’s magazines. They become the how to
guide to the idea that obtaining an impossibly thin body will make you happy,
healthy, desireable and successful. Of course, nothing is mentioned about
smarts or personal drive – that isn’t important. You can’t accessorize you 3.9
GPA. Fashion mags also support the anorexic desire to participate in restriction
and of course will affect those who already have internalized the thin beauty
ideal or are highly unsatisfied with their bodies. Because this is becoming a reality
for people at younger ages, advertisers are creating a culture where people
grow up thinking it is normal to be dissatisfied with themselves. There’s also
more of a chance they will buy into the bullshit being advertised. Smart
marketing, sure, not so smart when it comes to the backlash we see as
disordered eating, self esteem issues and preoccupation with weight becoming a
normal part of the female experience come into play (Spettigue& Henderson
2004). The reality is, that there has been an overall increase in the average
size of women in the West, yet the thinness of models and actresses becomes
more and more emphasized. It creates even more of a body discrepancy and leads
to many more problems.
Monkey See, Monkey Do. That’s what I’m talking about
here. Well… Not necessarily monkeys, but children (a species I would argue can
be viewed as monkeys from timr to time. Anyway…)
All of these ideals perpetuated. All of this
bullshit staring you in the face as you watch television, walk down the street,
order your lunch, exist… It all acts as what we in the business call
socializers. These socializers work to shape your thoughts and opinions toward
a certain topic. You grow up and embody these ideals, and they become a part of
you without you even knowing it. Think about the characteristics we attribute
to little boys and girls – dressing girls in pink and boys in blue, celebrating
cuteness in females and toughness in males – it all came from somewhere. You
were socializaed to think that way.
Anyway, the media is prevalent enough in perpetuating ideals and shaping public
opinion around what it means to be attractive (which has everything to do with
your looks, apparently). The advertisers are smart about it, and they start
pushing those messages early on, when kids are just wee ones.
As a working example...
There’s Barbie. She’s this plastic lady who
embodies everything that is “girl”. She’s usually got long blonde hair,
beautifully done makeup, legs that go on for miles, a tiny waist, great tits, and the perfect
life. Her image has changed over the years, sure. Her dimensions were even
changed in order to make her more “normal” because it was feared she was
promoting the thin ideal to little girls and promoting diets – in essence
heightening the chances of disordered eating. Even today, if Barbie was a real
live woman, her measurements (32, 17, 28) are typical of an anorexic woman.
Barbie is assumed by some to be a real role model for little girls. So, if a
very sick woman is the toy version of the role model for little girls, they are
bound to see shrinking models and airbrushed magazine cover art as normal,
desirable, and something they should work toward. Living by the mantra “I want
to be like Barbie”, we can run into all sorts of issues. You see, girls are
being socialized to think that this is the norm for women. I’m not the only one
who sees a problem with this I hope. Barbie is really good at promoting images
of attractiveness and popularity as being life goals, tells us that the ideal
female body is stick thin and large breasted, that women should spend lots of
time and money on their appearance, and this is all that matters. Yes, Barbie
has been introduced as a Mommy and a career woman, but the best-sellers are
still the fashion-oriented dolls (Somethingfishy.com). I’m not saying that
every kid who owns a Barbie is going to end up with Anorexia – it’s just worth
knowing the influence children’s toys actually have on young people.
Speaking of influence, I mentioned that advertisers
are hooking kids at younger ages. The bottom line is about making money, and
kids are pretty impressionable. It doesn’t help that more often than not they
do dictate the things their families purchase and subscribe to. Kids have a
ridiculous amount of buying power. Making them feel as if they need to fix
themselves when they’re six is really only just helping the advertiser grow
another consumer. Like a consumerism factory, built on our insecurities and
self-loathing. Pleasant (Consuming Kids documentary). Lifestyles and ideals are
being shoved at young girls and boys through advertising that forces them to
grow up far too quickly. It sends across the hegemonic ideals surrounding men
and women – girls are growing into a culture that pushes sexuality and
unattainable beauty ideals at them (like selling padded bras to seven year olds or advertising low
calorie diet food for kids or promoting muscly men as the only dudes who can
get any job done within society toward young boys). For more on advertising, check out SEXY INC
or Killing Us Softly 4 – two great documentaries that teach us lots about
advertising, unattainable ideals, and all sorts of issues we have with this
shit.
Media Literacy
By recognizing that this crappy advertising is all
around you is the first step to combating and understanding those myths and
misconceptions that were posted so long ago. We need to recognize that we are
being presented with a certain image of the ideal body. When the issues
of ED arise, we have a very narrow base with which to work with in order to
address it. This is simply because the time and energy is being put into
promoting the dangerous ideals that promote disordered eating, presenting
stereotypical and skewed images of those with eating disorders, and not
providing the proper education about them. By becoming more well versed in
understanding the media, advertising and what it is about, we can work toward
getting around to properly characterizing these disorders not as stereotypes,
but as harsh realities that do not affect one demographic, but many – that the
statistics and images have human beings standing behind them, and they’re
fucking suffering in part because the base of people who truly understand what
they are going through is very small. As long as we as a culture sit back and
allow images of the dominant ideal when it comes to Western beauty be
normalized and continuously perpetuated without resistance (or by silencing
that resistance), we are getting nowhere. By watching TV shows and allowing ads
to run that glorify eating disorders (I heard some shit about last weeks Glee
episode and some issues surrounding bulimia) such as ads and programs that
promote restriction, dieting, and self-harm through starvation in order to
obtain true beauty and happiness and not questioning that shit, we are remaining
slaves to the fucking man. Remember: they want you to feel inadequate, that’s
how they make their money. Your opinions don’t matter in their world so long as
they are getting your dollar, so fight back.
How do we do that?
Media literacy, ladies and gentlemen. Criticizing
and questioning what we see. Not taking advertising and other forms of media at
face value. Researching and understanding contemporary issues so that we are
not sucked in by stereotyping and myths surrounding them. Asking yourself –
"what is the message I am supposed to be getting from this? How does this make
me feel and why?" Teaching our young people to love themselves and love others,
and by getting across to the world the fact that these current body ideals need
to fucking change. Media literacy has been somewhat successful at getting the
message across to people, and it has actually been found that eating disorder
treatment that includes media literacy is pretty promising in helping to
address self-esteem and social skills issues (Spettigue & Henderson 2004).
We need to get on spreading the message that the images being presented to us
are virtually unattainable to the average individual. It isn’t real. That’s the
bottom line. These miracle diets and
ways to tone your figure in 5 days do not work in the long term. They harm
physically and they harm psychologically. They glorify disordered eating and
they promote unhealthy habits. Why we still buy into all of this shit I will
never know, but I do know that far more people need to have a fucking problem
with it and address it. Children need to see true role-models who embody the “average”.
People in general need to be socialized that the average is OK. This is an
ongoing battle, and there are many people fighting it. So educate yourselves,
ask questions, know that there is nothing wrong with you, and for frig sakes
speak up about what you see. Openly criticize television and magazine ads. Tell
people. Educate them. We aren’t going
to get anywhere if we’re all silent about it.
I sense a revolution coming. It’s going to be huge,
and we can all be a part of this change.
(On
a more personal note: I’ll update you on things eventually… I’m going to need
to take some time to do that. I mean… I’m OK, but there’s a lot to fill you in
on).
References
Child Mind Institute. (2012). “Myths About Anorexia
Nervosa”. Available: http://www.childmind.org/en/myths-about-anorexia-nervosa/
Earp, J., & Barbaro, A. (2008). “Consuming Kids:
The Commercialization of Childhood”. Media Education Foundation. USA.
Ewen, S., & Ewen, E. (2008). Typecasting: On the Arts and Sciences of
Human Inequality. Seven
Stories Press. Toronto, ON. Print.
National Centre for Eating Disorders. (2009). “The
Media and Eating Disorders”. Available: http://www.eating-disorders.org.uk/media-and-eating-disorders.html
Recoveryranch.com. (2012). “5 Common myths about
Eating Disorders”. Available: http://www.recoveryranch.com/articles/eating-disorders/eating-disorders-myths/
Spettigue, W. & Henderson, K.A. (2004). Eating
disorders and the role of the media. Journal
of the Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 13, 16-19.
Somethingfishy.com. (1998-2007). “The Media”.
Available: http://www.something-fishy.org/cultural/themedia.php
The Body Project. (2012). “The Media”. Available: http://thebodyproject.bradley.edu/media/index.shtml
Troscianko, E. (2009). Five Anorexia Myths Explored.
Psychology Today. Available: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/hunger-artist/200908/five-anorexia-myths-exploded
Pictures found on Google Images
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