Sociological Perspective of Eating Disorders
The media has a huge impact on people to fit into a certain standard, especially women. All over the t.v., internet, and magazines there are images that we see everyday that show extremely thin women and we feel that we have to compete with this. "Evidence of the value of thinness in the majority of U.S. culture is found in Hollywood's elite and the media promotion of waif models in fashion and in celebrity circles"."Indeed, being underweight or severely thin has become synonymous with being sexy". We think that, for women, being attractive equals being skinny. "Society thinks that being this skinny is beautiful and this is how it defines being feminine." But how has power over the media?
Eating disorders are based on the concept of the Feminist Theory. "The relationship between changing roles for women and
the emphasis on unrealistically thin bodies has been extensively discussed by feminist theorists; many feminist theorists have proposed
that appearance standards are vehicles for the oppression of women". In the last 30 years, there has been a change in our society in regards to women versus men. Women have far more opportunities in the work place than they ever did and maybe this is making men in power nervous. Because women are increasingly becoming more equal with men in society, sometimes society sets standards for women that are almost impossible to obtain in order to keep them from becoming equal or driving above men. Which leads to the last point:
The United States still has an patriarchal society. Even though women have come so much further then where they were, the majority of our society is still ruled by men. Women are still considered sex objects as shown in media all around the world, and this puts added pressure on all women to fit into a certain physical type. Even now when most women are in the workforce, they still are considered part of that oversexed role and therefore have to balance between work, domestic duties, and keep up with impossible beauty standards. Since men hold the most power, men are the ones that create these impossibly high standards. Having women being objectified leads them to have low self-esteem, which then leaves them more prone to eating disorders.
Eating disorders are based on the concept of the Feminist Theory. "The relationship between changing roles for women and
the emphasis on unrealistically thin bodies has been extensively discussed by feminist theorists; many feminist theorists have proposed
that appearance standards are vehicles for the oppression of women". In the last 30 years, there has been a change in our society in regards to women versus men. Women have far more opportunities in the work place than they ever did and maybe this is making men in power nervous. Because women are increasingly becoming more equal with men in society, sometimes society sets standards for women that are almost impossible to obtain in order to keep them from becoming equal or driving above men. Which leads to the last point:
The United States still has an patriarchal society. Even though women have come so much further then where they were, the majority of our society is still ruled by men. Women are still considered sex objects as shown in media all around the world, and this puts added pressure on all women to fit into a certain physical type. Even now when most women are in the workforce, they still are considered part of that oversexed role and therefore have to balance between work, domestic duties, and keep up with impossible beauty standards. Since men hold the most power, men are the ones that create these impossibly high standards. Having women being objectified leads them to have low self-esteem, which then leaves them more prone to eating disorders.