According to Mary Pipher, PhD, “In a city of strangers, appearance is the only dimension available for the rapid assessment of others. Thus it becomes incredibly important in defining value” (216).
“Beauty is a defining characteristic for American women” (Pipher 216).
She later goes on to say that, “When unnatural thinness became attractive, girls did unnatural things to be thin” (217).
One of the most common unnatural things girls did to be thin were develop two popular eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia. “A person may have anorexia nervosa when she diets to the point of weighing only 85 percent of ideal weight” (Kirby 68).
“Unlike the anorexic, who is excessively thin, the bulimic is usually within a normal weight range, but her weight fluctuates” (Kirby 70).
“Girls who are chubby or plain miss much of the American dream. The social desirability research in psychology documents our prejudices against the unattractive, particularly the obese, who are the social lepers of our culture” (Pipher 217).
“Young women with eating disorders are not at all different from their peers. It’s a matter of degree. Almost all adolescent girls feel fat, worry about their weight, diet and feel guilty when they eat” (Pipher 218).
Although both eating disorders are medically dangerous, mentally unhealthy and take a very long time to treat and cure, anorexia nervosa is more glamorous than bulimia because anorexics are thinner than bulimics, and being thin means being beautiful in American culture.
“Anorexic young women tend to be popular with the opposite sex. They epitomize our cultural definitions of feminine: thin, passive, weak and eager to please. Oftentimes young women report that they are complimented on their appearance right up until they are admitted to hospitals for emergency feeding” (Pipher 205).
“Anorexics tend to be compliant, approval seeking, conflict avoiding, perfectionist, socially anxious, and obsessive/compulsive, with average or above-average intelligence” (Kirby 69).
“The anorexic person has an intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, even though she is obviously underweight” (Kirby 68).
Typical characteristics of an anorexic are, “skipping meals, eating in ritualistic ways, grocery shopping or cooking for the entire household but will not eat, always making excuses not to eat, becoming argumentative with people who try to help, having trouble concentrating, denying anger and withdrawing into self and becoming socially isolated” (Kirby 69).
In “Eating Disorders: When Dieting Goes Too Far,” Amy Chen gives an adequate description of the symptoms of anorexia:
Some symptoms of anorexia are the same as in starvation and severe weight loss. Anorexics may have dry skin, dry hair, hair loss and easily chipped fingernails, growth of body hair (lanugo), a severe drop in metabolic rate, disturbances in the heart’s rhythm and rate, dangerously low blood pressure and body temperature, cold hands and feet, constipation and digestive problems, infertility, stunted growth in the young, and amenorrhea in women. Amenorrhea is defined as the absence of the menstrual period for three consecutive cycles. The danger of amenorrhea is the high increase in risk for thin, brittle bones (osteoporosis) and infertility. In severe anorexia, severe chemical imbalances result, and the progressive weakness of the heart muscle can lead to death. (2002)
“In addition to the physical changes that accompany anorexia nervosa, pronounced emotional changes such as irritability, depression, moodiness, and increasing isolation are also common” (Kirby 69).
These sacrifices are only small compared to the great rewards the best anorexics will get for being thin and perfectly beautiful.
Bulimics however, do not strive for perfection, rather they seek to escape by feeding their addiction; food is the narcotic. “Psychologically, having guilt, shame, depression and anxiety are common symptoms among people with bulimia. Bulimics are said to be motivated to escape from reality by binging, which is why they cannot control their eating” (Hara).
“A person may binge eat as a way to cope with stress or anxiety, or to fill an emotional void. Subsequent compensation, such as throwing up, taking laxatives or diuretics, and obsessive exercise, is a way to punish themselves for the binge, a way to assert control over themselves or symbolic of getting something bad out of their bodies“ (“Bulimia Nervosa”).
“More than half of bulimics are severely depressed and often suffer from alcohol and drug abuse in addition to their eating problems” (Kirby 70).
“On the surface bulimia may appear to be all about food, but it is mostly due to underlying issues” (“Bulimia Nervosa“).
An article by ANRED, “The Better Known Eating Disorders” clearly demonstrates this:
Bulimics may seem brave, but they are often depressed, lonely, ashamed, and empty inside. Friends may describe them as competent and fun to be with, but underneath, where they hide their guilty secrets, they are hurting. Feeling unworthy, they have great difficulty talking about their feelings, which almost always include anxiety, depression, self-doubt, and deeply buried anger. Impulse control may be a problem. This manifests in shoplifting, sexual adventurousness, alcohol and drug abuse, and other kinds of risk-taking behavior. This type of person acts with little consideration of consequences. (2002)
Bulimia is just as dangerous physically as it is mentally. “Frequent purging can cause electrolyte imbalance, severe dehydration, dental cavities, gastric or esophageal rupture, acid reflux and even heart failure.” (“Bulimia Nervosa”).
Bulimics are not necessarily striving for thinness as much as they are trying to prevent weight gain. This sad facts is the reason that people suffering from bulimia are not as thin as their anorexic sisters.
Anorexia and Bulimia are similar in that they are both eating disorders which manifest as a result of issues with self-esteem, depression, power, communication and self-expression” (Kirby 65).
“Disordered eating is a coping mechanism; just as some people turn to self-injury, drugs, alcohol and the like when faced with intolerable pressures, others cope by either starving, or bingeing and purging” (“An Intro to Eating Disorders“).
“Anorexia can be described as `screaming with your mouth closed’. For some who are unable to vocalize or express pains and anxieties in a more constructive manner, eating-disordered behavior becomes an alternative mode of expression” (“An Intro to Eating Disorders”).
“Bulimic women, like their anorexic sisters, are over socialized to the feminine role. They are the ultimate people pleasers. Most are attractive, with good social skills” (199 Pipher).
The disordered eater believes society when they tell her that to be thin is to be beautiful. “Girls developed eating disorders when our culture developed a standard of beauty that they couldn’t obtain by being healthy” (217 Pipher).
“Anorexia often begins in junior high, bulimia tends to develop in later adolescence. While anorexic girls are perfectionist and controlled, bulimic young women are impulsive and they experience themselves as chronically out of control” (199 Pipher).
“Anorexics have an intense fear of gaining weight and cognitive distortions around weight. Bulimics exhibit inappropriate compensatory behavior to prevent weight gain. While the anorexic severely restricts, the bulimic exhibits recurrent episodes of binge eating” (“Eating Disorders”).
Although both eating disorders are unhealthy, physically and emotionally anorexia nervosa is more glamorous than bulimia because anorexics are thinner than bulimics, and being thin means being beautiful in American culture. “More beautiful people are more intelligent” (Kanazawa & Kovar).
“Research shows that beautiful people are more confident and more successful” (“The Technology of Beauty”).
Mary Pipher, PhD was correct when she stated, “Beauty is a defining characteristic for American women” (216).
Quotations Page
“Eating disorders are typically about self-esteem, depression, power, communication, or self-expression” (Kirby 65).
“Eating disorders are very complex and take a long time to treat and cure” (Kirby 65).
“A person may have anorexia nervosa when he or she diets to the point of weighing only 85 percent of ideal weight (or a BMI of 17.5)” (Kirby 68)
“The [anorexic] person has an intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, even though he or she is obviously underweight” (Kirby 68).
“In addition to the physical changes that accompany anorexia nervosa, pronounced emotional changes such as irritability, depression, moodiness, and increasing isolation are also common” (Kirby 69).
“Anorexics tend to be compliant, approval seeking, conflict avoiding, perfectionist, socially anxious, and obsessive/compulsive, with average or above-average intelligence” (Kirby 69).
“The more ‘yes’ answers, the greater the likelihood that he or she may have anorexia nervosa . . . Skips meals. . . eats in ritualistic ways. . . Grocery shops or cooks for the entire household but will not eat. . . Always makes excuses not to eat. . . Becomes argumentative with people who try to help. . . Has trouble concentrating. . . Denies anger. . . Withdraws into self, becoming socially isolated” (Kirby 69).
“More than half of bulimics are severely depressed and often suffer from alcohol and drug abuse in addition to their eating problems. Unlike the anorexic, who is excessively thin, the bulimic is usually within a normal weight range, but his or her weight fluctuates” (Kirby 70).
“While anorexia often begins in junior high, bulimia tends to develop in later adolescence. While anorexic girls are perfectionist and controlled, bulimic young women are impulsive and they experience themselves as chronically out of control” (199 Pipher).
“Bulimic women, like their anorexic sisters, are over socialized to the feminine role. They are the ultimate people pleasers. Most are attractive, with good social skills” (199 Pipher).
“Anorexic young women tend to be popular with the opposite sex. They epitomize our cultural definitions of feminine: thin, passive, weak and eager to please. Oftentimes young women report that they are complimented on their appearance right up until they are admitted to hospitals for emergency feeding” (Pipher 205).
“Beauty is a defining characteristic for American women” (Pipher 216).
“In a city of strangers, appearance is the only dimension available for the rapid assessment of others. Thus it becomes incredibly important in defining value” (Pipher 216).
“When unnatural thinness became attractive, girls did unnatural things to be thin” (Pipher 217).
“Unfortunately girls are not irrational to worry about their bodies. Looks do matter. Girls who are chubby or plain miss much of the American dream. The social desirability research is psychology documents our prejudices against the unattractive, particularly the obese, who are the social lepers of our culture” (Pipher 217).
“Young women with eating disorders are not at all different from their peers. It’s a matter of degree. Almost all adolescent girls feel fat, worry about their weight, diet and feel guilty when they eat” (Pipher 218).
“Psychologically, having quilt and shame are common symptoms among people with Bulimia. Unlike anorexic people who put absolute control over restricted eating, bulimic people cannot control their eating. The physiological cause of Bulimia is still unclear. Psychologically, Bulimia is said to be linked to depression and anxiety, but clear evidence of causation has not yet been found. Cognitively, people with Bulimia are said to be motivated to escape from reality by binging. It is possible that those people were given food by their caretakers to lift their mood in their childhood. Like Anorexia, cultural learning that one needs to be thin to be accepted may also contribute to the cause” (Hara).
“A person may binge eat as a way to cope with stress and/or anxiety, or to fill an emotional void. It also might be due to legitimate hunger, if the person has previously been restricting food intake. This is why even people with anorexia may develop bulimic tendencies. Subsequent “compensation” (throwing up, taking laxatives or diuretics, obsessive exercise) is sometimes a way to punish themselves for the binge, or as a way to assert control over themselves, especially since during a binge, they may feel out of control).
Purging may also be “symbolic” of getting something bad out of their bodies. Abuse victims who were forced to perform oral sex on others are often bulimic. Although on the surface bulimia may appear to be all about food, it is mostly due to underlying issues” (“Bulimia Nervosa“).
“Some people also think that it’s “better” to have bulimia (as opposed to suffering from anorexia) because “at least they are still getting some nutrition” and “they’re still maintaining their weight.” Nothing could be further from the truth! Just because the consequences aren’t always as obvious as those of anorexia; it doesn’t make them any less severe. For one thing, bulimics often binge on not-so-nutritious foods, which should throw that rationale right out the window. Second of all, not all people with bulimia maintain weight, but the binge/purge cycle usually causes very large fluctuations in weight that wreak havoc on the person’s metabolism as well as their psyche “ (“Bulimia Nervosa”).
“Frequent purging can also do a tremendous amount of damage to a person’s body: anything from electrolyte imbalance, to severe dehydration, to dental cavities, to gastric or esophageal rupture, to acid reflux and to heart failure. Bulimia is just as dangerous as anorexia or any other eating disorder. It could almost be argued that bulimia is actually more dangerous” (“Bulimia Nervosa”).
“More beautiful people are more intelligent” (Kanazawa & Kovar).
“All of which is worth adhering to considering that research shows that beautiful people are more confident and more successful” (“The Technology of Beauty”).
“Someone once described anorexia as `screaming with your mouth closed’, which is a rather apt description: for some of us, unable to vocalize or express our pains and anxieties in a more constructive manner, eating-disordered behavior becomes a surrogate mode of expression” (“An Introduction to Eating Disorders”).
“Above all, disordered eating is a coping mechanism: Just as some people may turn to self-injury, drugs, alcohol and the like when faced with intolerable pressures, for some of us our way of coping is by either starving, or bingeing and purging” (“An Introduction to Eating Disorders“).
“Anorectics are typically over-sensitive, perfectionist, rigid `black and white thinkers’, and usually above average intelligence. People with these traits seem to be particularly prone to the development of anorexia when subjected to an emotional `trigger’” (“An Introduction to Eating Disorders”).
“Like anorexia, bulimia can kill. Even though bulimics put up a brave front, they are often depressed, lonely, ashamed, and empty inside. Friends may describe them as competent and fun to be with, but underneath, where they hide their guilty secrets, they are hurting. Feeling unworthy, they have great difficulty talking about their feelings, which almost always include anxiety, depression, self-doubt, and deeply buried anger. Impulse control may be a problem; e.g., shoplifting, sexual adventurousness, alcohol and drug abuse, and other kinds of risk-taking behavior. Person acts with little consideration of consequences” (“The Better Known Eating Disorders“).
“Some symptoms of anorexia are the same as in starvation and severe weight loss. Anorexics may have dry skin, dry hair, hair loss and easily chipped fingernails, growth of body hair (lanugo), a severe drop in metabolic rate, disturbances in the heart’s rhythm and rate, dangerously low blood pressure and body temperature, cold hands and feet, constipation and digestive problems, infertility, stunted growth in the young, and amenorrhea in women. Amenorrhea is defined as the absence of the menstrual period for three consecutive cycles. The danger of amenorrhea is the high increase in risk for thin, brittle bones (osteoporosis) and infertility. In severe anorexia, severe chemical imbalances result, and the progressive weakness of the heart muscle can lead to death” (Chen, Amy).
“Some symptoms of bulimia include electrolyte abnormalities that can lead to heart rhythm disturbances, dehydration, dangerously low blood pressure, menstrual cycle abnormalities, enlarged parotid glands, destruction of dental enamel and cavities, bad breath, bowel abnormalities, and sometimes ulcers and heart irregularities that can lead to death” (Chen, Amy).
“Anorexia Nervosa. Refusal to maintain body weight. Intense fear of gaining weight
Cognitive Distortions around weight. Amenorrhea. Types: Restricting” (“Eating Disorders”).
“Bulimia Nervosa. Recurrent episodes of binge eating. Inappropriate compensatory behavior in order to prevent weight gain” (“Eating Disorders”).
Works Cited
“An Introduction to Eating Disorders” 2004. The EDSHED Website. Dawnmist Studio. 19 September 2004.
“Bulimia Nervosa: Violent Self-Contradiction” Figure Skating Issues. 19 September 2004. http://www.angelfire.com/il2/figskating/issues/bulimia.html
Chen, Amy. “Eating Disorders: When Dieting Controls You” 7 April 2002. Supermarket Guru. 20 September 2004.
“Eating Disorders” 15 November 2002. UNC. 20 September 2004.
Hara, Takako. “Hunger and Eating” 1997. California State University, Northridge. 19 September 2004. http://www.csun.edu/~vcpsy00h/students/hunger.htm
Kanazawa, Sotashi & Kovar, Judy L. “Why Beautiful People are More Intelligent” 2004.
Science Direct. 19 September 20004. http://harcourtassessment.com/hai/images/dotcom/sciencedirect/j.intell.2004.03.003.pdf
Kirby, Jane. Dieting for Dummies. New York: Hungry Minds, Inc, 1998
Pipher, Mary. Reviving Ophelia. New York: Ballantine Books, 1994
“The Better Known Eating Disorders” ANRED. 2002. Anorexia Nervosa and Related Eating Disorders, Inc. 20 September 2004. http://www.anred.com/defswk.html
“The Technology of Beauty” 2004. Digital Home. 19 September 2004. http://www.digitalhomemag.com/features/default.asp?pagetypeid=2&articleid=28725&subsectionid=1300&subsubsectionid=935