Myths Of Eating Disorders Essay, Research Paper

What is it that is deep in the souls of people that makes them believe thin is in, or thinner is more beautiful? Why are all the ladies and men of advertising sending the message that slim is hip, its a fad? Or the billboards all over the city display skinny woman in nice clothing. Is this the message society want its children to see? Or does media, man, and society just ignorantly push people in general to thinking this is better? As Maggie Helwig writes in her essay ” A Certain Hunger ” ” It was a fad, in a sense, the illness of the month.”(EW 340). She talks about eating disorders being a fad, people starving themselves or making themselves vomit an in thing to do.

Every time you turn on your television, every time you drive downtown in a major city, and every time you read a magazine you are being submitted to this thinking. Television, with its all too powerful role today, shows children images of emaciated women they are supposed to look up to. Almost every role model in television is slim and trim and made out to be so beautiful. Why is that so? What about Marilyn Monroe? She was a size 13 yet she was considered one of the most beautiful women ever, and still is, yet if a woman today looked like her she wouldn’t be regarded the same way. Another plug is the ever so popular billboards all over city buildings and intercity highways. Skinny, pretty women wearing pretty clothing and looking pretty. Gap, Guess, Tommy Hilfeiger, and many other brand name clothing companies use this method of advertising and many people see it and believe it. If a billboard goes up by Guess, the next day you can bet some girl is wearing exactly what is on that billboard and trying to look as thin. Finally, there are the magazine’s like YM, 17, and Cosmo that cover stories about young woman purging their life away or how to lose 50 pounds overnight. And this is subjected to our children as what is in because its what is in the magazines for them. Many people believe that the men who run these companies can be put to blame.

Can men in general be put to blame? Men in the past have been the figurehead for authority and rulership in general. But in the past woman never had to be thin to be in so when exactly did this migration of thinking come into effect? In the 1960’s there became awareness of such disorders with eating, although it didn’t become public until the 70’s. How and why did this pattern of thinking evolve? With time trends change and with trends come new idols. Did Charlies Angels begin the fad of thin? Three beautiful slim women fighting crime. Or was it the men behind the scenes who control the stations and advertising? Men have swooned over half naked bodies for eons, there has always been some sort of entertainment that involved woman and their bodies. Wether it was a bordello, whorehouse, or prostitute that type of entertainment has been around for centuries. And the continual battle for customers could, in fact, have made woman want to look better for the men. Which could have sparked wives and prospective wives to look better for their men. Or have women as a whole, over the years, decided that they should look slimmer because it looks prettier?

When you see an ad about Jenny Craig do you think “Oh my I need to lose a pound or two!”, what about Weight Watchers? Or when you see that skinny woman with three kids does something click inside that says “Boy would I like to look like that after three babies”. All too often women make the assumption that skinny women are the prettiest. Society as a whole has made this assumption and drills it into their own heads that if women are not as slim as Mrs. Jones across the street they are not as pretty. Although there are extremes and being overweight can cause medical problems.

” Excess body weight increases the risk of hypertension, coronary artery disease, diabetes mellitus, gallbladder disease, sleep apnea, gout, atherosclerotic disease, myocardial infarction, and certain types of cancer (Atkinson & Hubbard, 1994; Stahl & Imperale, 1993).”(Wolf.i). People as a whole do not need to be “skinny” to be cool. In fact some of the most respected people on earth were not thin. B.B. King a renowned Jazz singer was not thin by any means, or John Candy a famous actor, Della Reese as well. What about Rosie O’Donnell she isn’t skinny either.

In short to be thin is not in, to be kind, courteous, and intelligent, or a good performer, is in. The young man that has acne and is a little pudgy but helps an old lady across the street, or the young lady that is a size 14 and volunteers at the YMCA to teach children gymnastics, those are the in people. Media, Man, and Society as a whole push a marketing gimmick down the throats of people to make money, not for the good of mankind but for the good of profits and ratings.