Media And Eating Disorders Essay

Since the beginning of time food has been a necessity for us, a fuel to keep us going. In society, food is a centerpiece of socialization in many ways such as celebration, joy, sadness, and conversation. However as time goes on, to some, food is not the centerpiece of socialization, instead it's something that causes them burden. All around the world, earlier than the 1700's, beauty standards have been set for women and they change just as fast as trends do, even becoming a trend itself, with some time periods glorifying bigger women while today smaller bodies are ideal. Through these trending bodies an eating disorder is usually created, one which many people think is a choice, failing to understand that eating disorders are a very serious

However, the portrayal of ED's in the media gives out false information such as ED's being a mental disorder and not physical, and ED's being associated with a certain body type. If we continue to spread false information these assumptions can be harmful as it would invalidate the people who are trying to get treatment. A step to changing this issue is to stop spreading false information about ED´s and make an effort to research and educate people to learn there are more than two eating disorders and every person no matter age, gender, or body type can have an eating

This results in the constant images and messages of how women should look at all times and always encourages them to never be satisfied with the way they look. Throughout the media since the ideal body has been thought the main eating disorder that stems from this is anorexia where women must not eat or purge when they do, this overlooks the many other eating disorders there are such as spitting food, ARFID, etc. In "Is the Media to Blame for Causing Eating Disorders?," Susan Crowden ponders the question if the media is to blame for causing and glorifying eating disorders. She says "Recent years have seen a proliferation of online images known as "thinspiration" or "thinspo." These are primarily found on pro-eating disorder websites, although they have been popping up on more mainstream sites as well. Research has shown that viewing these images results in a lowered caloric intake and lower self-esteem. This shows that the mainstream body type is thin and this could lead people to gain anorexia rather than talking about how body dysmorphia can affect every body type, even thin