Lia Waugh Powell
Jena Morrow, a woman affected by an eating disorder, once said, “I am forever engaged in a silent battle in my head over whether or not to lift the fork to my mouth, and when I talk myself into doing so, I taste only shame. I have an eating disorder.” This quotation may have little to no meaning to a person who has never experienced the damage of an eating disorder. With an eating disorder, there is a sense of never being enough, never being happy that consumes you every day. A constant battle of blinking back tears as your mind reflects on what you ate that day, and you can almost feel the fat being deposited in your body. You can see the weight gain. The fear of gaining weight devours you whole, and there is no light at the end of the tunnel. This occurs every day when you are battling an eating disorder. That is every day for 8 million people in America alone (S.C. Dept. of Health). Media have taken the woman’s body and twisted it into the perfect image, an image absolutely unachievable except through Photoshop® and excessive dieting. The manipulated perception of beauty has driven countless women to developing eating disorders in an attempt to grasp and claim this beauty. Eating disorders will continue to be a prominent issue in society until media change the way they portray women.
The connection between eating disorders and the media’s influence dates back to the 1800s. Since the 1800s, the standard of female beauty often has been unrealistic and difficult to attain. The rich and higher classes were far more likely to be able to conform to the thin and petite stature that was preferred in those times. Women, typically, have always been willing to sacrifice comfort and even endure pain to achieve these standards, standards developed by what was considered high fashion depicted through European fashion (through whalebone corsets, and encouraging the binding of feet in Chinese culture). In the 19th century, women with tiny waists and large bustles were valued. It was desirable for an upper-class man to be able to span a woman’s waist with his hands. Despite the inflicted pain and resulting health problems, such as shortness of breath (which could lead to pneumonia) and dislocated visceral organs, corsets became the height of fashion.
After corsets, in the 20th century many ideas of beauty changed. During World War 1, women searched for comfort and power. They cut their hair short and wore less complicated dresses. During World War 2, women took to wearing skirts again, highlighting a very feminine look. Many strove to be like Marilyn Monroe, who was a curvy sex symbol during the 1950s. In the 1960s, the “thin” culture began to regain popularity when the European model Twiggy became famous. Her petite frame became the object of affection in society, and ever since, thin has been the most desired body type.
The media began to gain more control over women as technology advanced and became more obtainable by the public, through multiple devices such as commercials on television, billboards, and magazines. From the time children are first exposed to television, they see constant commercials for new diets to try out and beauty products to make you believe you need that particular product to be beautiful. Average looking women wearing plain clothes with little makeup on are rarely, if ever, shown on advertisements on television or magazines. According to the About-Face organization, “400-600 advertisements bombard us everyday in magazines, on billboards, on tv, and in newspapers. One in eleven has a direct message about beauty, not even counting the indirect messages.” This means media through advertisements bombard women — media’s perception of what beauty is and should be, rather than what true beauty is, thus causing unrealistic ideas of beauty and causing self-image problems.
With so many media influences, eating disorders have become incredibly popular. Anorexia, otherwise known as Anorexia Nervosa, is the fear of eating, gaining weight, and/or becoming fat. There are two types of anorexia: the restricting type and the binge and purge type. Restricting Anorexia is the weight loss achieved by severe caloric restrictions and excessive exercise. Binge and purge anorexia is akin to restricting anorexia, including periods of binge eating followed by purging behavior to avoid gaining weight (DSM-IV 65).
Bulimia, also known as Bulimia Nervosa, is an eating disorder characterized by secret episodes of binge eating. Such activities are followed by inappropriate methods of weight control: self-induced vomiting, abuse of laxatives, and excessive exercise (67). Bulimia and anorexia are life-long fights. Once contracted, it is nearly impossible to fully recover from the disorders.
You need to be informed of the media’s influences because your children and my future children are susceptible to the dangers of eating disorders. 20% of people suffering from anorexia will prematurely die from complications related to their eating disorder, including suicide and heart problems (DMH S.C. Dept. of Health). The fact something as severe as an eating disorder can be caused by the media is frightening. It is our job to inform others of the negative effects the media can have. You need to enforce healthy lifestyles in your children’s lives, so they can have positive body images and not go through the emotional stress and physically damaging effects of eating disorders.
To prove eating disorders are influenced by media portrayal of women, I will discuss my own experience with Anorexia Nervosa and explain why media were the main causes for my downfall. Second, I will demonstrate the elaborate lengths magazines go through to achieve a flawless look through Photoshop® and people on television go through in makeup and the wardrobe department to conceal flaws and enhance specific features. Third, I will prove the “Sex Sells” campaign pressures women into believing they must look a certain way to be beautiful. Contrary to these points, the counterarguments of my thesis I will refute are first, the belief eating disorders are purely biological and not influenced by our cultural surroundings, and second, the belief media do not have any “control” over our society and thus women’s health choices.
My first argument supporting my thesis is derived from my personal experience with an eating disorder. When I was 14 years old, I developed Anorexia Nervosa. Media caused this because I believed I had to look the way the women did on television and in magazines to be considered beautiful. I believed I needed to be extremely thin, have perfect legs, abs, and flawless skin. I was terrified to eat and had an irrational fear of gaining weight. There were days when I would eat a cracker and do several workout tapes to increase the number of calories I burned. I would stare for hours at a mirror grabbing at my stomach, thighs, and arms in tears because I could grab fat, which in my mind should not be there. I remember reading a book in which a girl had an eating disorder and was told she was not skinny or beautiful enough until she was capable of hugging herself to the extent her fingertips touched. This became my goal. I was never good enough, never skinny enough. Eating became something I forced myself to do only because I knew I needed food to survive. Weight loss would excite me. I loved being able to feel my bones through my shoulders or feel my ribs when I touched my stomach. However, if I turned on the television or walked by an issue of Cosmopolitan magazine, all of the weight loss meant nothing. Seeing glossy magazine covers that showed beautiful women essentially naked with no physical flaws, killed me. Both commercials and television shows haunted me, such as commercials with Victoria’s Secret models with perfect bodies and with every woman looking flawless. They had no fat arms, thighs, or stomach. Their skin was perfect, and their smiles shined brighter than mine ever could be. I was suddenly reminded I would never be considered beautiful like those women. I would never be able to have a man love me and think I am beautiful until my body matched theirs. The media caused my downfall because everywhere I looked, with an already low self-esteem, I saw images of thin women being portrayed as beautiful, and then I would look at myself and see I did not compete with those women. My body was incredibly flawed, I had large thighs and arms, my face was round, and my waist was not as thin as those on advertisements in magazines or television.
The disorder continued until I strengthened my relationship with Christ. With a weak relationship, I realized I would never be happy with the way I looked. To this day, I accept the fact I will never have a perfect body. However, now I know an almighty God crafted me. Yet the battle continues within me. I still cringe at the thought of gaining weight.
Media insert images with unrealistic standards for women to achieve through the television and magazines into the minds of 5 million Americans who struggle with eating disorders, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Perhaps even more startling is the 119 percent increase between 1999 and 2006 of the number of children under age 12 hospitalized due to an eating disorder, the vast majority of whom were girls. These statistics are important to acknowledge because they show the large increase of eating disorders in society for young girls.
My second argument is about the new phenomenon of Photoshop®. Photoshop® is taking a photograph and digitally altering it. With Photoshop® you can manipulate any photograph to make it look however you want it to. In media, Photoshop® is used to make already thin models thinner and to airbrush their skin to give it a flawless finish. Henry Farid, a Dartmouth professor, told ABC News in 2009, “The more and more we use this editing, the higher and higher the bar goes. They’re creating things that are physically impossible; we’re seeing really radical digital plastic surgery. It’s moving towards the Barbie doll model of what a woman should look like — big breasts, tiny waist, ridiculously long legs, elongated neck. All the body fat is removed, all the wrinkles are removed, and the skin is smoothed out.” About 99% of images are “photoshopped.” This means practically every image we see, that our children are exposed to, has been falsified and changed, thus creating an image that portrays women in a artificial manner, encouraging beauty that cannot be achieved because it does not exist.
Like most adults, teenagers believe media influences everyone but themselves. This is known as the “third-person effect.” For example, in a national survey of more than 500 teens, nearly three-fourths believed sexual content on television influences teens their own age, but less than one-fourth believed media ever influence their own behavior. This proves media have a rather strong grip on youth. With images being “photoshopped” endlessly, there is an unachievable desire to be what the media tell you to look like. Another example of the extreme measures taken by magazine editors is former American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson’s appearance on the cover of Self magazine. Clarkson’s magazine cover portrays an at least 20 pound lighter singer, which caused controversy, especially since that particular issue was themed “Body Confidence.” The magazine responded with the following: “Did we alter her appearance? Only to make her look her personal best. … But in the sense that Kelly is the picture of confidence, and she truly is, then we believe this photo is the truest we have ever put out on the newsstand.” Thus in this case, Clarkson’s “personal best” is not what she truly looks like; it is a slimmed down and artificial perception of what she should be.
“The effect (of the media) also appears to be growing. The researchers’ analysis reveals that, on average, studies conducted in the 2000s show a larger influence of the media on women’s body image than do those from the 1990s,” says Dr. Grabe. “This suggests that despite all our efforts to teach women and girls to be savvy about the media and have healthy body practices, the media’s effect on how much they internalize the thin ideal is getting stronger,” she says. “The results are troubling because recent research has established body dissatisfaction as a major risk factor for low self-esteem, depression, obesity, and eating disorders, such as bulimia. At the same time, women’s displeasure with their bodies has become so common that it’s now considered normal,” says Dr. Grabe. She hopes that wider recognition of the media’s role will encourage people to see the issue as a societal one, rather than as a problem of individual women as it’s viewed now (Medical News Today).
This article is significant because Dr. Grabe’s beliefs align with my thesis. Media have a large impact on how society develops, and with their current portrayal of women, eating disorders can become even more popular in the future, even accepted and encouraged through media. With media continuing to glorify the thin image as beautiful, and women having constant displeasure with their bodies because they compare themselves to those on television and advertisements, eating disorders will become more prominent in society.
For my third argument, I will attest the “Sex Sells” campaign has brainwashed our country and the world for the past 50 years. The average American woman is 5’4” tall and weighs 140 pounds. The average female American model is 5’11” and weighs 117 pounds. Most female fashion models are thinner than 98% of American women (Smolak). Models are used as sex symbols: whether they are walking down the runway or posing in a photo shoot, the main idea for them to achieve is anything sexual. Our society revolves around sex from the Victoria’s Secret commercials on television, to a commercial that is focused on a cheeseburger such as Hardee’s most recent commercial featuring a woman in a bikini eating a burger seductively, completely unnecessary. Sex is tied into everything. Therefore, children are being raised in a highly sexualized society, believing they have to achieve the bodies portrayed on commercials or magazines and indulge in sex to be happy or accepted. The media have belittled women to a point where it is acceptable to try and mirror what the media say to look like. From a Biblical perspective, we as Christians need to emphasize true beauty comes from within. 1 Peter 3:3-4 tells us, “Do not let your adorning be external — the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear — but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.”
To summarize my points, women and future generations need to know the media have constructed worldviews that are not healthy to obtain, especially through eating disorders. Choosing to live healthily and taking care of your body is important and necessary. Trying to match some other person’s body that has been retouched is not only impossible but also harmful to oneself.
The first counterargument to my thesis claims eating disorders are biological or passed down through family genetics. The basis of this idea is that neurotransmitters are linked to eating disorders shown by studies done primarily on the hypothalamus. Specifically, the ventromedial and lateral hypothalamuses have been shown to direct eating behaviors in humans, as well as in laboratory animals.
The ventromedial hypothalamus has been called the satiety center. When this part of the brain is stimulated, eating behavior stops, comparable to a feeling of being satisfied. Conversely the lateral hypothalamus, when stimulated, correlates to eating behavior. When functioning properly, these two areas operate to keep the body at a specific body weight, termed the set point.
However, damage to either of these regions can cause the set point to be altered. It is the case then eating will reflect the new set point. So if this new threshold is lower than normal, the animal can starve itself to death. Decreasing the level of epinephrine in the ventromedial hypothalamus of rats has been shown to be interrelated with rats exhibiting anorexic behaviors. Rats have been seen to adopt a low rate of eating, increase their rate of activity, reduce their carbohydrate intake, and respond with overeating. Therefore, biological issues can cause eating disorders but that is not the solitary issue. In order for any of what was said to be true, the hypothalamus must be stimulated. Something must “spark” the change; it cannot happen by itself. This disproves the counterargument because though there are traces of eating disorders being biological, in order for the disorder to happen the hypothalamus must be triggered.
This trigger could be a feeling of shamefulness or any other negative feeling. The brain is a very powerful and complex organ. With an overwhelming sense of never being enough, or believing one is overweight, one’s brain actually can increase the levels of serotonin, thus contributing to depression and emotions. So while there may be genes that play a role in the level of serotonin within our brains (for some people), the emphasis on the media’s effects should not be dismissed.
The second key counterargument is media actually do not have any effect or influence in society. Some people honestly believe every decision we make is our own and is not influenced by any opposing forces. However, this is not true: media have a strong impact on society. Richard Salent, former president of CBS News, says, “Our job is to give people not what they want, but what we decide they ought to have.” This shows the media do indeed have great power and are fully aware of it.
The public is exposed to programming carefully crafted to create thoughts in our minds, whether they are realistic or not. For example, Reality television shows such as Jersey Shore utilize extreme sexual behavior and excessive drinking as a way to entice viewers into living a lifestyle like theirs. Many young adults have since begun to practice that lifestyle, endangering themselves and others. Every decision a person makes, including whether to make oneself throw up, or to stop eating and begin to exercise excessively, is influenced by someone or something else. The Bible even acknowledges outside influences and how they are indeed dangerous. Proverbs 4:13 tells us to guard our hearts because they are the wellsprings of life. Romans 12:2 states to not conform to any patterns of the world or not be influenced by the world. These examples are important because they show even before media began to have a large impact on society, struggling with conforming to the world and being a part of the world have always been issues. Today, the world described in the Bible can be aligned with media and how they constantly exploit women through “photoshopped” and highly sexualized images with unnaturally thin statures. It is unhealthy to compare oneself with such images and people, and women and upcoming generations need to be aware of the effects media have and be able to discern what is healthy and what is not.
It is important to be able to recognize advertisements with emaciated models and models who have been computer enhanced, advertisements that have a large person in them portrayed with negative character attributes, and advertisements that glorify images of people on diets, or advertisements that present people relying on food for stressful situations, loneliness, and frustrations. Here are some examples how you can recognize unhealthy images, images worthy of protest. If you find any of these qualities in media advertisements, you can contact the National Eating Disorder Association, which is an association dedicated to helping people with eating disorders and stopping media influences, who will then review your submission. If they accept your submission for direct action, they will contact you within one week, and if they do not decide to take direct action, they will post all of the information on their Facebook page, which informs those who monitor their page. In doing so, you will also be informed about harmful media messages and can help keep you aware of the media’s messages. Partaking in this will help you take control of what messages you allow in your or your child’s life, and can even help other women you have not even met by reporting harmful advertisements and preventing others from seeing them and developing an eating disorder or prevent them from being encouraged to continue with an eating disorder.
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