How might a sociologist account for the high incidence of eating disorders among women?

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90% of all people with eating disorders (such as Anorexia and Bulimia) are female (British Medical Association 2008)

How might a sociologist account for the high incidence of eating disorders among women?

Eating disorders can only be applied to people who have the option to eat, generally they live in a society with an abundance of food, such as the United Kingdom or the United States, but they choose to control their intake of food to a dangerous level. Although eating disorders are considered to be mental illnesses there are several contributing, social and cultural, factors from the external world which drives people to want to achieve a slim body. In post modern society the common appearance of an attractive woman was one of a larger woman because being slim was a sign of insufficient nutrition and poverty. The idea of a slender figure originated in the late nineteenth century within middle-class women. Anorexia was first reported in 1874 in France but it did not become prominent until the past thirty or forty years. In more recent times it has become increasingly frequent in young women. (Gibbens 2006 p253)

The high incidence of eating disorders among women has many influential factors. There are pressures from the media and the developing world for women to look specific way. The modern idea of thinness as attractive and healthy which is ‘so pervasive in Western societies that it often goes unchallenged, despite the fact that it has not always been, nor is it everywhere the case.’ (Brown & Jasper 1993 p16) The current ‘Widespread preoccupation with weight, dieting and exercise has escalated to such a degree that it is an accepted, encouraged and rewarded aspect of social life.’ (Brown & Jasper 1993 p16) Evidence has shown that women in western society are much more at risk of eating disorders that women from other societies, ‘but the degree of westernisation women of all backgrounds are exposed to seems to increase their risk.’ (Dolan 1991)

The media has had a huge impact on the increase in numbers of eating disorders found in women. The developments in mass communication through television, sophisticated advertising and magazines ensured the promotion and consumption of new ideals for the appearance of women throughout the western world. ‘The result was a greater emphasis than ever before on outer image, both instead of and as a measure of inner worth.’ (Brown & Jasper 1993 p27)  These developments in communication have an enormous affect on how and what women considered beauty because of images that have been edited using computer software, even after the production team has selected an already attractive women, creating a false, unachievable goal. Women started to compare themselves against women that they saw in the media, advertising and fashion, hence ‘self-esteem becomes deeply connected to body size and shape.’ (Brown & Jasper  1993 p19) This obsession with body image is what causes women to feel that the best way to achieve this goal is to strictly control how they eat and live their lives. Although software is also used to refine and improve images of men, the image which is portrayed is usually of a muscular man and the images are presented in fewer numbers and are not usually aim completely at men. The experiences and reinforcements for men as children mean that they do not develop the same intensity of complexes as women.

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The reason that media does not affect male perception of what it attractive and necessary, to the point of an eating disorder, may be due to males tending ‘to be drawn to the opposite emphasis, of a more imposing frame.’  (Gordon 1990 p33) This lack of emphasis on being slim can explain why males are less likely to develop an eating disorder because of the influence of the media. The amount of pressure put on men is far outweighed by sheer volume of influences in the media that are directed at women. In modern times there is also a lot ...

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