Eating Disorder
Analysis of “The Globalization of Eating Disorders”
I still remember when I was a child, my parents always called me “fat boy”. In the traditional culture of my hometown China, “fatty” means cute, full of blessing. No one associated “fat” with being ugly. Even when I was a high school student, “fat boy” was still my parents’ nickname for me. But in recent years, Chinese aesthetics has been changing quickly. Now, you can easily find all kinds of diet pills on sale in stores, and more and more recreation centers open classes for fitness, such as yoga. The only purpose is to lose weight and gain a skinny body. Suddenly, it seems as if being skinny is equated with being “beautiful.” This is a trend and culture, like a hurricane sweeping around the China rapidly. Why has this new standard of beauty taken root and spread across China so quickly? In the article “The Globalization of Eating Disorders” written by Susan Bordo, she tries to explain this phenomenon.
The author, Susan Bordo, begins her essay with a personable example of a young girl standing in front of the mirror, which the readers can relate to. This example introduces the concept of “body image” (814). It is a great way to capture the reader 's interest. The young girl is a typical white, middle-classed, North American (Susan Bordo, 814). Then, the author uses a similar example, an African American girl who would “rather die from starvation than gain a single pound” (Susan Bordo, 814). According to the author, this girl comes from a race that is proud of their voluptuous bodies, but was ashamed of her own body (Susan Bordo, 814). The culture of body image, like an invisible hand, has been changing people’s aesthetic views. By comparing these two examples, the author lets the readers realize the gravity of eating disorders.
Immediately following these examples, the author urges the readers to seriously consider the problem of eating disorders. She moves the readers’ attention from North America to
I still remember when I was a child, my parents always called me “fat boy”. In the traditional culture of my hometown China, “fatty” means cute, full of blessing. No one associated “fat” with being ugly. Even when I was a high school student, “fat boy” was still my parents’ nickname for me. But in recent years, Chinese aesthetics has been changing quickly. Now, you can easily find all kinds of diet pills on sale in stores, and more and more recreation centers open classes for fitness, such as yoga. The only purpose is to lose weight and gain a skinny body. Suddenly, it seems as if being skinny is equated with being “beautiful.” This is a trend and culture, like a hurricane sweeping around the China rapidly. Why has this new standard of beauty taken root and spread across China so quickly? In the article “The Globalization of Eating Disorders” written by Susan Bordo, she tries to explain this phenomenon.
The author, Susan Bordo, begins her essay with a personable example of a young girl standing in front of the mirror, which the readers can relate to. This example introduces the concept of “body image” (814). It is a great way to capture the reader 's interest. The young girl is a typical white, middle-classed, North American (Susan Bordo, 814). Then, the author uses a similar example, an African American girl who would “rather die from starvation than gain a single pound” (Susan Bordo, 814). According to the author, this girl comes from a race that is proud of their voluptuous bodies, but was ashamed of her own body (Susan Bordo, 814). The culture of body image, like an invisible hand, has been changing people’s aesthetic views. By comparing these two examples, the author lets the readers realize the gravity of eating disorders.
Immediately following these examples, the author urges the readers to seriously consider the problem of eating disorders. She moves the readers’ attention from North America to
Cited: Bordo, Susan. "The Globalization of Eating Disorder." Research and Composition in the Disciplines. 2nd ed. New York: Pearson Learning Solutions, 2011. 814-17. Print.