Modern Western Culture

Modern western culture arguably fails to meet the most fundamental requirements of any culture: to provide a sense of belonging and purpose, a sense of self-worth and meaning, and a moral framework to guide youth. Countries like New Zealand and Australia are categorized as “new” western nations, young countries without a long, shared cultural heritage or strong sense of identity (Eckersley. R 2008). I believe the contribution of western societies has created a worsening precedent, one that in particular, is harmful among our youth. I have chosen to discuss the entrenched issue of eating disorders, and the rapid growth of the number of youth suffering from the condition, those of which predominantly young females. I will explore the cultural shift in western countries towards a preference for slimmer bodies and the correlation it has with young females aspiring to an idealized body in which is seen as worthy of social and cultural acceptance. Bodies that are mostly unattainable or severly unhealthy to pursue, introduced via mass media which influence values, norms and which physical standars to pursue. I will also highlight the three major risk factors that have been theoritically associated with disordered eating; psychological, familial and socio cultural. All of which are conceptially disparate (Cantor & Harrison 2006).

Young females are forced to feel that there is a stigma attached to body weight and that being thin has great importance on the ability for them to sucseed in all aspects of their lives. Particulary in middle to high socioeconomic classes, young women attempt to immitate and mimic the standard of the beauty presented to them via fashion media. “A negative view of one’s body, coupled with the view that a thin body is crucial to one’s present and future is a recipe for depression.” (McCarthy 1990). The worsening precedent I make reference to is in relation to dieting and the impact in which is has on young girls. The contribution society hs made by informing our youth that we can control our weight has created the idea of the “thin ideal”, leading girls to feel dissatisfied with their bodies and to experience a sense of failure through not being able to control that aspect of their life. The feeling of failure and helplessness having not achieved the thin ideal from dieting can have serious repurcussions leading to depression and anxiety. I would like to contend the commom belief that eating disorders are of a psychiatric nature but are instead more so that of a social problem, a culturally introduced disease.
Hesse-Bieber, Leavy & Quinn (2006) argues that: “There is a lucrative market associated with Eating Disorders, and the advertising, weight-loss, diet-food, fitness, and cosmetic surgery industries are well aware of it”. In support of this argument I believe that the media grabs young and vulnerable minds and latches them onto its manipulative ideas, body image has silently taken over society. The result of mass media distorts perception of the body, mind and spirit.

The gradual but consistent growth shift of an attitude teaching young gilrs to achielve unatainable goals is a western ideology that is sadly becomiong more widespread throughout the world. The disturbing power that mass media holds is infecting non western contries via industrilaization and urbanisation, bringing with it disheartining and unhealthy beauty ideals. What is of great concern, is that despite the perception that weight loss will improve body image and self esteem, this is not necessarly the case. Anorexia nervosa can evolve into a dangerously determined state of mind to need and want control, a parasitic like, psychopathologicl disorder in which the attempt to have complete control of all aspects of life can consume and destroy friendships, relationships and families.

Extensive research identitifies three major risk factors as being the main theoritical associations with disordered eating in young women. Pyshcological, familial and socio cultural (Cantor & Harrison 2006). A recent news story on a documentary by an ex model, Nicole Clark (CTV London 2012) displays the truth about the modelling world, beauty industry and what is expected of the girls involved. Nicole makes direct refernce to the fact that she was discourged by a number of different modelling agencies and commercial beauty companies to not go ahead with the documentary, with obvious concerns of exploitation, potentialy damaging facets of the industry. Conclusivly; it suggests that if society were exposed and educated on the sickening reality of the industry, they would not give them their vote by giving them there dollar. Nicole Clark’s documentary “Cover Girl Culture” challenges young girls to decode the messages the media is feeding them, emphasisinig a socio cultural frame of mind in that we as society out number the media, that by introducing parental influence, empoweremnt education and re assesing femminity it is possible to cause a shift of attitude within a culture. Familiarity to young girls and what is the social norm within a society is a fundamental need to provide them with a sense of belonging and purpose. Manipulation and interference with familial, socio cultural and psycholigical facets of young minds by the media, shape an enviroment that fosters and nurtures the idealogy of eating disorders.

By recognising the power and effects social media is contributing to the epedemic of eating disorders within young girls, interventions such as actively promoting the understanding of social pressure to be thin based partly on reality but also on projection. “To combat the projected social pressure to be thin we should instead facilitate the exchange of opinions about the issue amoung young memembers in society” (Sung-Yeon Park 2005). Park argues that by doing this, young people will be made aware of the fact that criticisms of the images fed to them and the constant struggle to mimic them are widely spread, that they are not an isolated individual silently suffering. Perceived similarities between one- self and others, actual remarks by others, and other aspects of interpersonal communication could also conceivably amplify or diminish the presumed level of media influence on others (Sung-Yeon Park 2005).