Somewhere along the line, this thought came to be. When did it become okay to be underweight? How did this happen? Maybe the fashion industry is to blame, or the media. Maybe the cause lies somewhere deeper, in the way women's roles are constructed by society, or the way familial tensions affect women. Disordered eating is a silent epidemic. What starts as innocent attempts at weight loss slowly morph into unhealthy obsessions before anyone can take notice. Anorexia has alarming effects on the body, and though it is experienced by both sexes, it is especially predominate in women. Science has not pinpointed a particular cause for anorexia, and, as with any psychological disorders, the causes are likely varied and situation dependent. However, it is generally agreed upon that social forces play a role in causing and perpetuating disordered eating. This post will look at the history of anorexia in women, and the roles social institutions, social construction, and other social forces have played in causing the disease and making it what it is today.
Before I begin, I want to note that while I am not an expert on anorexia in the scholarly sense, I am an expert in that I have experienced it firsthand. I was in treatment for a few years starting around the age of 13. I was very lucky, and I am now as recovered as I am probably going to get, but I have learned a lot about the disease through the recovery process and thinking about how and why it happened to me. I hope my personal experiences will contribute to the clarity of this post.
The origins of eating disorders shed light on some of the potential underlying causes, and they may not be what people expect. It is tempting to label eating disorders as a modern problem, or even a fad--the result of a body image-obsessed society where thinness and youth are highly valued. But eating disorders have roots as far back as the 14th century, with St. Catherine of Siena as one of the earliest known sufferers. In the early 1800's, Catholic girls deprived themselves of food to emulate St. Catherine and become more "saint-like." [1] Anorexia, recognized as a disease, started appearing in middle class women in the mid-19th century. Researchers then, and many modern ones, believed that women were deliberately starving themselves to cope with circumstances over which they had no control. [2] Evidence of this can be found in many places, both historic (as in the case of poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning, who didn't eat presumably to help deal with the high expectations of her father) and modern (as in the case of women who starved as a means of internalizing feelings toward oppression). The social constraints placed on women throughout history seem to have contributed to the onset of eating disorders, and may continue to be doing so today.
In recent years, the idea that women were starving themselves to cope with the absence of control has been eclipsed by the notion that pressures from fashion and the media are to blame. These pressures are likely the cause of the rise in disordered eating that began in the early 1960's. This era is when we first saw impossibly thin models, like Twiggy, and the rejection of the curvier body ideals of the '50s. Today, bone-thin models are commonplace, and they seem to only be getting thinner. Weight loss schemes and crash diets are a dime a dozen. The bodies of movie and television stars are under constant, public scrutiny. For most, the "ideal" is unreachable and unhealthy, but women, especially young girls, seem not to care. What constitutes as beauty is a social construct and is therefore constantly changing and evolving. There are even differences in the social constructs of beauty in different races. I just recently noticed this when looking through two popular magazines. The "regular" version of the magazine featured the same super-skinny models that we see in the fashion industry, but the Latina version of the same magazine featured curvier, more real-looking models. What we as a society believe is beautiful could also making people sick. This shows the power of social construction
Recently, the idea has emerged that anorexia is correlated to social class. A study by Muriel Darmon revealed that anorexia is more common in upper to middle class women. [3] Because of their socioeconomic status, these women and girls are able to afford all of the crazy weight loss products, the expensive clothes being marketed with stick-thin models, high-priced gym memberships, and more. They have the disposable income and the time to devote to obsessive weight loss. When I was in treatment, the vast majority of the girls I was there with were from prep schools and affluent families. From what I understood, when you can afford the beautiful things, there is pressure for you to be beautiful as well.
Finally, it is important to recognize the role social institutions play in influencing anorexia and other disordered eating. Schools, I believe, have an obligation to educate students on the dangers of eating disorders. As it is now, eating disorders are glossed over in a middle school health class, but the actual causes of eating disorders are not addressed, and body shaming runs rampant in schools. A greater emphasis should be placed on this important issue. Family dynamics can also be influential. Dysfunctional family interactions can cause a girl to feel out of control and, much like the situation with Elizabeth Barrett Browning above, attempt to regain control through counting calories. Disapproval from a parent, or even a stray negative comment, can cause self esteem to plummet and disordered eating can eventually result. [4] These are just some social institutions that contribute to the continuation of eating disorders as a modern epidemic.
There are people out there trying to make a change. "Body positive" movements have started on the internet, and some fashion companies have gotten behind them. There are advertising campaigns urging women to love their bodies no matter what they look like. But as with any social change, progress is slow and there is opposition. Waif-like models, both women and men, still dominate the runways and magazine spreads. Crash diets are everywhere. The solution to these problems may not be to outright attack the media. After all, is the media dictating what is popular, or are we dictating it to the media? Instead, I propose that we, as a society, look into the underlying social problems that could be affecting our women and girls. Perhaps they feel like their value is based on how they look. Maybe they are trapped in the norms of their social class. Our society could well have constructed a standard of beauty that focuses too much on the physical. Institutions could be functioning to perpetuate these norms. There is no one solution to this multi-faceted problem.
One of the biggest misconceptions about anorexia out there is that those who have the disease are solely to blame. I have heard that they are too sensitive, or that they starve themselves on purpose. It might start out that way, but it will inevitably spiral to the point where the person doesn't even think what they're doing is wrong. Social forces play a huge role in pushing people to that point. Whether it is the desire to be "saint-like," the pressure to be beautiful, or even the need to regain some control in a situation where there isn't any, social forces play some part in keeping the eating disorder epidemic going.
Sources:
[1] Reda, Mario, and Giuseppe Sacco. "Anorexia and the Holiness of Saint Catherine of Siena." Trans. Graeme Newman. Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular Culture 8.1 (2001): 37-47. Web. 11 Dec. 2015.
[2] Hunt, Liz. "Five Hundred Years of Eating Disorders 'reflect Women's Lack of Power': Liz Hunt Reports That Anorexia and Bulimia Are Not Just Creations of the 20th Century but Have Roots in History." Independent. N.p., 1 May 1993. Web. 11 Dec. 2015.
[3] Darmon, Muriel. "The Fifth Element: Social Class and the Sociology of Anorexia." Sociology 43.4 (2009): 717-33. Web. 11 Dec. 2015.
[4] Vander Ven, Thomas, and Marikay Vander Ven. "Exploring Patterns of Mother-Blaming in Anorexia Scholarship: A Study in the Sociology of Knowledge." Human Studies 26.1 (2003): 97-119. Web. 11 Dec. 2015
