Comparison Essay of “An Insatiable emptiness” and “Distorted Image”
Comparison Essay of “An Insatiable emptiness” and “Distorted Image” Body- image anxiety is an issue that many people struggle with nowadays. There are many factors that contribute to one’s anxiety of body image, for example it could stem from media, social and personal view. “An Insatiable Emptiness,” by Evelyn Lau, focuses on her own personal struggles with bulimia, and her strained relationships with her mother. “Distorted Image,” by Susan McCelland focuses on the social dynamics of body image and provide reports of different cultural aspects on body image. Both of these articles explore a different perspective of how one cope with body image issue and the impact upon it.
In “An Insatiable Emptiness,” Evelyn Lau narrates her struggles with bulimia and her relationship with her mother. She felt discomforted as her body grew, and she wants to postpone her growth by forced vomiting. Further, her dysfunctional family worsened her condition of being bulimic, and her manipulative mother guilt Evelyn of being ashamed of her body. As a helpless young girl, the only way to be in control of her life is to be in control of her weigh as she describes that throwing up made her feel empowered and immortal. She described that her developing body was taunted by her mother, she wrote, “My breast continued to develop, horrifying my mother, who frequently made me undress in front of her so she could ridicule them” (Lau, 2013, p.433). In addition the author describes, as she gained weight; her extremely skinny mother would in return lose weight to guilt her daughter of feeling isolated. In the end the author concludes that she overcome bulimia, as she no longer feel empowered when she throw up ,and the pain of throwing up has cause the deterioration of her health. She concludes that everyone needs to deal with the traumas within themselves, and instead of using harming ways to tear themselves apart mentally and physically. Western media have globalized the
In “An Insatiable Emptiness,” Evelyn Lau narrates her struggles with bulimia and her relationship with her mother. She felt discomforted as her body grew, and she wants to postpone her growth by forced vomiting. Further, her dysfunctional family worsened her condition of being bulimic, and her manipulative mother guilt Evelyn of being ashamed of her body. As a helpless young girl, the only way to be in control of her life is to be in control of her weigh as she describes that throwing up made her feel empowered and immortal. She described that her developing body was taunted by her mother, she wrote, “My breast continued to develop, horrifying my mother, who frequently made me undress in front of her so she could ridicule them” (Lau, 2013, p.433). In addition the author describes, as she gained weight; her extremely skinny mother would in return lose weight to guilt her daughter of feeling isolated. In the end the author concludes that she overcome bulimia, as she no longer feel empowered when she throw up ,and the pain of throwing up has cause the deterioration of her health. She concludes that everyone needs to deal with the traumas within themselves, and instead of using harming ways to tear themselves apart mentally and physically. Western media have globalized the
Cited: Lau, E. (2013). “An Insatiable Emptiness”. Reinking, Von Der Osten, Cairns & Flemings (Eds.), Strategies for Successful Writing. Toronto: Pearson. McCelland, S. (2013). “Distorted Image”. Reinking, Von Der Osten, Cairns & Flemings (Eds.), Strategies for Successful Writing. Toronto: Pearson.