- Ayana Sioux:
- Please educate me on this. Does this go off topic, though?
No, I don't have information or experiences on it myself. But, like others on the thread have mentioned, there's a much higher correlation between factors like sexual abuse and having an eating disorder than taking in messages from 'the media'. And it's possible (I'm not saying likely or the reality, but possible) that groups which are not "white American women" (for example, men and minorities) feel there's a greater stigma attached to their having an ED and do more to hide it. -shrug- that's just speculation. I agree that there is a - how would you describe it - Aryan-centrism? - to perceptions of beauty, which leads to self-hatred and radical cosmetic alterations such as skin bleaching and lightening and the thousands that African American women spend to achieve 'white' hair, that sort of thing. And those things (and their implications) are disturbing and sometimes harmful. But they're a direct intervention to alter something - the equivalent, I think, of getting liposuction. Whereas an ED - again, as others have said - is an ongoing, debilitating quest for a feeling of control - I agree with the distinction that
kingslayer made; an ED is not a crash diet to lose some pounds. I think the media does promote a great deal of dissatisfaction with one's body (in every way - shape, size, colour, smell, taste, dryness, softness, etc) and that's why 55-65% of women say their New Year's resolutions involve dieting. Media pressure can and does lead to body dissatisfaction, alongside individual characteristics like BMI, self-esteem, eating behaviours, perceived family dynamic, but body dissatisfaction is so widespread that it doesn't seem accurate to say it leads to EDs - otherwise, surely black women who feel these other pressures to be 'beautiful' in a 'European' way would be equally at 'risk' - and few/no 'slim/thin' women would develop a disorder. The fact that they do suggests there is more at play - the control issues, dysmorphia, etc. And though an extreme majority of fat people -may- have problems with self-esteem, body satisfaction, etc, due to 'social messages', one (US-based) ED recovery organisation says that only 10-15% of the nation suffers from a "serious eating disorder" while 61% of the nation is overweight or obese. Apparently only 7-9% of "normal dieters" proceed through pathological dieting on to "partial or full-syndrome" EDs. So, being overweight or thinking you need to diet are not an indication that you
will develop an ED, and while "personal negative self-evaluation leading to body dissatisfaction can impact self-esteem, depression, anxiety, excessive dieting, and overall quality of life" these are not necessarily the "behaviors, thoughts and feelings persistent over time that contribute to a maladaptive relationship with food." Apparently "50% of girls between the ages of 11 and 13 see themselves as overweight," but [female] childhood eating disorders are nowhere near 50%.
One relevant point from a 2010/11 study was to emphasise that
- Quote
- The family is the primary social institution influencing young children; thus, it is likely that many modifiable risk factors for body concerns, childhood obesity, and/or extreme weight
control have substantial roots within the family context... However, there has been limited attention given to the role of family as a shaping factor in body satisfaction.
It also suggested that "among females, increased dieting behavior was associated with lower quality of attachment to mother. For males, increased dieting behavior was associated with lower quality of attachment to father and associated with higher degree of parental control. Dieting behavior did not associate with BMIs in this sample." And, in women, that "a high BMI alone does not contribute to dieting behavior; however, in combination with low global selfworth and other factors might produce dieting behaviour."
Anyway, so, physical characteristics do not themselves lead to EDs; factors such as self-worth and childhood environment and family relations seem to play a larger role than 'the media' - which you could respond to by saying the media determines self-worth, but, as I've said, I think it's useful to distinguish between not liking things about yourself and seeking immediate fixes for them, and the complicated psychology behind a developed, long-term disorder that most people know, in an objective way, is destructive and problematic. And they are long term - the recovery centre I mentioned says over three-quarters of individuals report the disorder as lasting from one year to fifteen or more. Anyway. I don't think it reduces to race or gender, I think it reduces to individuals - and the disproportion related to gender could very simply be linked to the matter of sexual abuse, since 75-90% of youth sexual abuse is of girls. But like I said, I don't know. Speculation. It would be interesting to see some studies on EDs relating to race and economic demographics. I guess it's easier to survey college men and women but that means the studies bear inherently any sample biases that college does.
Recovery centre2010/11 studyObesity and EDsGendered child abuse (p. 6)
Okay, the internet has the answers: "there has been increasing evidence of disordered eating occurring among racial and ethnic minorities in the United States. Contrary to the persistent belief that eating disorders affect only young, white women, analysis of the Minnesota Adolescent Health Study found that dieting was associated with weight dissatisfaction, perceived overweight, and low body pride in all ethnic groups... among the leanest 25% of 6th and 7th grade girls, Hispanics and Asians reported significantly more body dissatisfaction than did white girls." [
Source] "It is sometimes speculated that women from racial and ethnic minority groups are “immune” to developing eating disorders because their cultural identity provides some amount of protection against body image disturbances. For example, it is frequently asserted that African-American culture embraces larger body types than does the dominant culture, thereby making Black women less prone to body dissatisfaction." However, complicating things further, apparently some studies suggest it is 'white'-enculturated POCs who are more at risk of EDs - which could be interpreted in so many ways - as hatred of their race, as now coming under the 'white' body dissatisfaction anxieties - ambiguous. It says acculturation is important but not predictive. (And, again, suggests looking at individuals and their experiences/responses.) And, whether totally erroneously or not, that link suggests that media may matter more for POCs, "people furthest from the (dominant ideal of beauty)" who may be particularly at risk of "psychological effects of low self-esteem, poor body image, and eating disorders." So they would be responding to a hegemony they aren't a part of, whereas white women, at least, have their race/characteristics for the most part affirmed by the media. And none of this seems particularly directed at size/shape/weight.
16 years ago, "Thompson (1996) interviewed eighteen women of varying socio-economic status and race and found that eating disorders were frequently a response to environmental stress (i.e. abuse, racism, poverty)." That seems like a very small sample - were they all women with eating disorders? If not, how many were? How was causation isolated to "response to environmental stress," merely the lack of other factors?
But does it matter if we stereotype black women as being immune to EDs, or more resistant to them?
Actually, yes. "African Americans and Hispanics are presumed to be inoculated from these disorders due to their cultures' different views of attractiveness. These preconceptions could impede proper awareness, diagnosis and treatment of dangerous medical and psychological conditions in ethnic minority groups." Just as there is a stigma in men having a "woman's disease," I imagine saying that anorexia is a "white girl's disease" would make an ED difficult to accurately identify and treat, on the part of the sufferer as well as her [their] community.
This page discusses socio-economic factors in eating disorders, but I'm not sure how reliable the information is.
- Quote
- Cultures in which female social roles are restricted appear to have lower rates of eating disorders, reminiscent of the lower rates observed during historical eras in which women lacked choices. For example, some modern affluent Muslim societies limit the social behavior of women according to male dictates; in such societies, eating disorders are virtually unknown. This supports the notion that freedom for women, as well as affluence, are sociocultural factors that may predispose to the development of eating disorders.
"Virtually unknown" may mean they lack the language or the means to express what is happening, that reports are not made or help is not sought. Not, necessarily, that there are less (or, rather, 'virtually no') women with EDs. -shrug- or maybe it's true, in which case, troubling/interesting.
This discusses SES and EDs but I have to head out and have already spent too long on this silly post
sorry, tl;dr etc.