The Media is the Culprit!!!!!!

The influence of the media on the exposure of eating disorders cannot be refuted. From an early age we as women are bombarded with messages and images that reinforce the idea to be happy and successful we must be thin. Today, you cannot read a magazine or newspaper, turn on the television, listen to the radio, or shop at the mall without being assaulted with the message that fat is bad and thin is good. The most frightening part is that this destructive message is reaching kids. Adolescents often feel fatally flawed if their weight, hips, and breasts don’t match up to those of models, singers and actors. With the fashion industry seemingly pushing for smaller and skinnier models and the press portraying them as something special, there is plenty of blame for an eating disorder. Television shows continue to feature impossibly thin actors in lead roles. Not only is their pressure to be thin but also an issue to be beautiful. More recently, reality shows such as "The Swan" and "Dr. 90210," which feature plastic surgery and major makeovers, have been criticized for promoting unhealthy body image. In "The Swan," young women are separated from family and friends for several weeks to undergo an intensive diet and exercise plan. Hair stylists recommend hair extensions and highlights, and plastic surgeons perform breast augmentation, facelifts, Botox and collagen injections. The end results are showcased in a beauty pageant, where formerly "ugly ducklings" compete against each other for the title of "The Swan."In this you tube video it shows just how the media has an negative effect on women and girls. it was very interesting to see how little girls began to pick up on the ads that led them to wonder down the make-up aisle of stores instead of the toy aisle. Watch here and take a glimpse at how media has such an effect on young women’s lives.

Celebrities are no less susceptible to eating disorders than the rest of the population in fact eating disorders within the celebrity arena is on an increase. One of the tragic and most publicized celebs that suffered from an eating disorder was Karen Carpenter. She went on a water diet to lose weight and, as she put it, to appear more attractive. She continued to diet even after losing 20 lbs, until her death at the age of 32. She died of cardiac arrest due to anorexia and weighed only 80 lbs. A more current celebrity Victoria Beckham (Posh Spice of Spice Girls ) has admitted for the first time that she suffered from an eating disorder. She made the revelation in an extract from her autobiography, Learning to Fly. Beckham has denied that she had anorexia in the past, she has described her illness and said that for a time she was "obsessed" with her appearance. In this you tube video it shows the different celebrities that have an eating disorder and most of the images or pictures in the video have been used have been featured in magazine, have been snapped on the red carpet or has in someway been exposed through the media. After looking at the video there’s no wonder why women feel pressured to be thin. If marketing firms and advertisers see how big of a health concern the ads they promote can have on women why do they continue to pump out ad after ad? Jean Killborne seems to sum it up in her thoughtful essay “Still Killing Us Softly: Advertising and the Obsession with Slimness” saying “The current obsession with weight is enormously profitable for many corporations and for the media in general. The diet industry has tripled in the last 10 years, increasing from a $10 billion industry to a $33 billion a year industry (p.399)”.

No discussion of body image and the media would be complete without referencing Becker’s landmark study comparing rates of eating disorders before and after the arrival of television in Fiji in 1995. Ethnic Fijians have traditionally encouraged healthy appetites and have preferred a more rotund body type, which signified wealth and the ability to care for one’s family. Strong cultural identity is thought to be protective against eating disorders; there was only one case of anorexia nervosa reported on the island prior to 1995. However, in 1998, rates of dieting skyrocketed from 0 to 69%, and young people routinely cited the appearance of the attractive actors on shows like "Beverly Hills 90210" and "Melrose Place" as the inspiration for their weight loss. For the first time, inhabitants of the island began to exhibit disordered eating.
Eating disorders are generally believed to be the result of unresolved psychological and emotional issues. The person who is suffering will normally discover that losing weight either through extreme dieting or binge-eating followed by vomiting and/or the use of laxatives establishes a form of control unavailable to the person suffering in any other area of their life. Once an eating disorder takes root, body image becomes distorted and the individual begins to feel she or he can never be thin enough. We have to keep in mind that eating disorders are not simply about food and weight but are an attempt to use food and weight to deal with emotional problems rather it be self esteem or issues of depression.