“The Globalization of Eating Disorders” by Susan Bordo says that eating disorder has became big problem. Bordo’s explains about how the body image, media, and culture influence the standard of the beauty and lead to eating disorder. She provides astounding facts and examples to really open people’s eyes. She not only covers the epidemic of eating disorders spread through women, but also it’s spread through men not only women . She totally blames on Western media for the spread of eating disorders throughout other cultures. She not only states how body image was important for women but also for man.
yes every one like to have good fit body ,it is unfortunate that our media has influenced our population into such a materialistic and altered view of beauty. It is unhealthy to be very fat and overweight; however it is equally unhealthy if not deadly to develop an eating disorder due to body insecurity based off supermodels and false “requirements” to be beautiful. Based on the case of Fijian women it is incredible to see the role of western media on a population that once considered being heavy to be beautiful. In 1998 according to the CIA World Factbook 11 percent of women aged 15-64 had reported vomiting to control weight, that is 1 in 9 females having an eating disorder, and 1 in 1.6 (62%) females having reported dieting in the previous months. That is astounding and extremely unfortunate.
Before the Fijians received western media there had been almost no known cases of eating disorders in the entirety of their country. It is not only prominent in females anymore either. Males have also started developing body insecurity issues. For example, the promotion of muscle enhancements such as steroids and creatine. I blame the media for the large number of people who have body issues because they are giving a false image that to be skinny or to be jacked and muscular is the most important thing a person can do. I feel people should realize that while being in shape and exercizing is healthy and good for one’s mental well-being, that being a good person, being nice and accepting of others, and generally caring for others should far surpass having to be skinny or muscular to fit in or be accepted Tuesday, January 20, 2009
The Globalization of Eating Disorders: Response
After reading the article by Susan Bordo, I realized that it seems as though a lot of issues are created by the media. The main reason that many Americans have eating disorders is because of the effects of television, magazines, and music. Bordo made it seem that young girls try to idolize the people that they see in the media, which causes them to develop ridiculous ides of what their self-image should be. She stated that although families play a role in how their children view themselves, it is hard for children to escape the images and “expectations” they feel society creates.
I felt that the article did a good job of showing the differences of the epidemic found in different countries. It made me realize how large the effect of the media actually was. It was amazing to me the results of events that had happened in those countries, and how remote countries that were exposed to different types of media suddenly saw an increase in the amount of eating disorders. I knew that the media played a large role in the way people viewed themselves; however, I did not know that the media could change individuals’ views on themselves so quickly. Posted by Adam Neske at 7:27 PM