Anorexia causes.

One factor that has been tied to anorexia is cultural influences. It is argued that the culture in the United States is one focused on being unrealistically thin. Other cultures have different representations of what type of body shape is attractive. In what ways does culture influence stereotypes of beauty? Why does the disease predominantly affect women as opposed to men? If culture is a primary reason for anorexia, why is only 1-5% of the population affected by it?

reply to post by RobFox
I blame it all on Photoshop. Young people look at ads in magazines and on billboards where the models are impossibly thin and seemingly perfect- which they are absolutely not, and do their bests to emulate what the media shoves down their throats as "perfection". If they only understood that what they are seeing is not real but image manipulation at it's finest maybe they wouldn't pressure themselves and their peers to try to achieve the impossible. They are making themselves sick trying to achieve the unachievable- both physically and mentally.

I think advertising has an awful lot to do with it. The constant bombarding of young peoples minds with pictures of unattainable bodies makes them loose self esteem - at a time in their lives when it is already low. In extreme cases it leads to body image issues.

The advertisers actually don't mind it - because their underlying message is that you need this product to be sexually attractive or accepted by your peers etc. This whole premise of buying their product starts with you not being satisfied with your body to begin with - so you need to improve it with material goods. In other words, its good for business.

That's my 2c

reply to post by RobFox


A girlfriend - many years ago told me how her parents had sent her to a psychiatrist when she was seriously underweight. She told me how she was obsessed with weight loss and how she would fool her parents with small amounts of food on her plate and would go to the gym for a workout in her workplace lunch break - all the tricks she used to fool people.

She came from a more than well provided for home with professional parents who lived in an upper class part of the city. She had several brothers and the psychiatrist came to the outcome that she was trying to repress her femininity - keep her body boyish.

Later on she married and must have been very comfortable because she was a far cry from her anorexic days. My personal belief is that many Children come from unplanned and unwanted pregnancies - or - the parents are purely having babies because they are doing what their parents did and following the patterns of society that are accepted. Deep down in the psyche of the Child they have a sense of this "unwantedness" and they struggle. They are most certainly then influenced by the media who only photograph super skinny models, who are accepted as beautiful. Children struggle to accept their own faults and fail to see their own beauty and try to emulate the 'beauty' that is pushed by mainstream media.

All I know is the anorexia victims must have very strong wills because to deny yourself food when you have a steady supply of food is a very strong type of energy. Sad sad day on this planet when we realise our Children don't feel beautiful - all colours and shapes have their own beauty. Every Child is beautiful until society messes with their sense of self.


Much Peace...to all Children everywhere - you are all unique and very BEAUTIFUL ...

confusion?

Originally posted by RobFox
In what ways does culture influence stereotypes of beauty? Why does the disease predominantly affect women as opposed to men? If culture is a primary reason for anorexia, why is only 1-5% of the population affected by it?

edit on 16/2/13 by RobFox because: (no reason given)

An attractive figure is a slim and/or athletic figure.

Excessive body-fat is not attractive. Its more reality and common sense than culture or anything else.

Anorexia is when slim goes too far.

Still more attractive to most normal folks than the obese body.

Originally posted by littled16
reply to post by RobFox

 

I blame it all on Photoshop. Young people look at ads in magazines and on billboards where the models are impossibly thin and seemingly perfect- which they are absolutely not, and do their bests to emulate what the media shoves down their throats as "perfection". If they only understood that what they are seeing is not real but image manipulation at it's finest maybe they wouldn't pressure themselves and their peers to try to achieve the impossible. They are making themselves sick trying to achieve the unachievable- both physically and mentally.

What did you blame it on before Photoshop?
Polaroid cameras?
Cave paintings?
Anorexia goes a little deeper than that.

Like other eating disorders anorexia can have a singular cause or can be quite complex.
Anxiety, stress, perfectionism, body dysmorphic syndrome, abuse, depression, peer pressure, low self-esteem etc are all factors involved and to try to attribute everyone to the same one is impossible.
Each sufferer has to be treated and managed on an individual basis as each sufferer is inherently unique.

Thankfully though with the proper treatment the vast majority of sufferers recover but it's important to treat them early and just as important to carry on monitoring them even after they seem to have recovered.

I was anorexic during my senior year in HS and first year of college. Mine, I believe, stemmed more from loss of control issues....obsessing....and deeper down in my psyche...whatever......it was a means to suppress my feminine body...then I wouldn't be noticed for those attributes....I was so thin by college that I stopped having periods.
I did a combination of eating very little and purging.....(I was and still am, too indolent for serious exercise!)

Corn,
How did you overcome it or is it always a struggle?

reply to post by Pardon?
Yes, anorexia can be much deeper, I agree. But the more recent massive upswing in anorexia (especially among boys) has a lot more to do with what is "socially" acceptable as opposed to deep seeded psychological issues. One of my nephews, as well as most of his friends, in recent years have taken to fasting in order to achieve an unnaturally "skinny" look because THAT is what the majority of young girls expect in order to date them. They have unrealistic ideals of what "hot" boys should look like, and the boys do what they have to do to "get the girls" as hormones overcome brain cells at that age.

Same goes for a large majority of the girls. They watch shows like "America's Next Top Model" and others and see all of the super thin size 2 and 4 girls and think that is what they are supposed to look like. The media manipulates print ads and all the teen magazines show unnaturally thin and flawless models whom the girls seek to emulate- by whatever means necessary.

You are absolutely correct that in true cases of anorexia there are deep seeded psychological issues of which unhealthy weight loss is just one of the many symptoms, but a vast majority of cases are kids (and sometimes even adults) just trying to fit in with what is fashionable and considered socially acceptable amongst their peers. There was a day when girls rushed to buy padded bras, fanny pads and shoulder pads to fit in when the idealistic icons of the day were Marilyn Monroe and Jane Mansfield. It was a much easier task to fit into what is fashionable when "curvey" was the trend of the day. Unfortunately the trend amongst teens recently happens to be "super skinny" and there is no quick way to get there other than unnatural and harmful means.

Just to note as an example after Christmas I went on a shopping trip with one of my daughters and a few of her friends. We went to all the trendy stores that teens-young adults like. I needed a new pair of jeans so I decided to try on a few different styles. What a nightmare! They were all super low rise with ultra skinny legs, the only difference was straight or flared at the bottoms. The largest size I saw all day was a size 9 that looked more like a size 5. There were none of what I considered "normal" jeans in any of the stores we went to, and we went from store to store all day. What are young girls supposed to think when all the trendy clothes are made for stick figures? It is my opinion that as young girls want to "fit in" more than anything they will do whatever they have to do to wear these trendy clothes, even if it includes starving themselves to wear the popular fashions.

ETA: And yes, I did end up buying a pair of those jeans. They made my butt look awesome!

reply to post by RobFox


In my humble opinion, I've found just about every ailment I have researched was tied to malnutrition, wonder if that could be a factor for anorexia as well.

From the brief search I did, it appears one thing common is low iron and Vitamin D.

I do think society has a large play in this and im wondering what were the anorexia rates back when these ads were popular? (the 40's - the 70's)






Edit: Im not sure how to resize so I added the link:

Weight Gain Ads