Preview

Dying to Be Thin

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1256 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Dying to Be Thin
Anorexia: Dying to be Thin by Kati McConville

It was eight o'clock in the morning and it was time for Amy to wake up because she was going out to breakfast with her mother. This was something she hated doing. It wasn't because she didn't want to wake up early or she didn't want to be with her mother, it was something much deeper than that. For the past three years Amy has been struggling with an eating disorder, an endless cycle of fasting, bingeing, purging, pretty much complete misery. Amy hated eating in front of people. Well, quite frankly, she hated eating period. She couldn't stand the unbelievable amount of guilt she felt after any sort of food touched her lips. It wasn't possible to chew a piece of sugar less gum without thinking about the five calories her body was absorbing. She operated on a very routine daily schedule. She spent many hours a day browsing pro-eating disorder web sites. These sites helped Amy keep her mind off her growling stomach. She printed out pictures of dangerously skinny celebrities and put them inside her journal that was labeled "Thinspiration." Every day she posts online her total daily food consumption and the calories, fat, protein and carbohydrates associated with it. Many girls take part in these rituals to keep inspired to stay thin. They've become outrageously popular in past years, receiving thousands of hits each day. These girls are essentially helping each other starve. In the Western society, women are given the message at a very young age that in order to be happy and successful, they must be thin. The pressure on young people, especially young women in our society, to be thin is enormous. Our society's obsession with thinness and perfection is perhaps the major contribution to eating disorders. Books, magazines, television, movies, web sites, and peers promote being thin. Being skinny and being beautiful seem to go hand and hand. Every time you walk into a store you

Kate Moss, often
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Reaching The Slender Body Summary
    • 633 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Reaching The Slender Body Summary

    Between the hunger and the muscle pain from the constant workouts? I can’t tell you how much I hurt.” Her self-denials of her body’s basic needs of rest and food are seen as “power” by herself and society when in actuality it is harmful to her health. She is willing to make the hazardous tradeoff between health for physical ideals. Also, if the youths of today are brought up lead to believe that physical perfection is the key to the good life then low self esteem and harmful behavior may ensue upon not being able to meet the unrealistic criteria. Bordo quotes a woman’s first hand experience with anorexia, “Sometimes my body looks so bloated, I don’t want to get dressed. I like the way it looks for exactly two days each month.” It’s truly saddening to hear any person perceive themselves in such a negative light that they hardly feel okay in their own skin. Whereas Bordo ties this self disgust to “anxieties about internal processes out of control” and rejection of oppressing gender standards for women, it is ultimately a harmful self image. It is psychologically damaging and no happiness can come from such a negative…

    • 633 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    014 Thinspiration Discussion
    • 500 Words
    • 2 Pages

    014 Thinspiration Discussion

    It is simply bizarre to me how the media’s influence to fulfill the ideals of the “thinspiration” or “fitspiration” movement have become so widespread across the youth population as a way to define oneself. Prior to reading the article “’Thinspiration’ Packages Eating Disorders as a Lifestyle Choice”, I was aware that eating disorders were serious and captivating mental illnesses. However, I was under the impression that people had the intentions of helping stop the increasing cycle of the illness and not advocating for it. Dealing with a first-hand experience of an eating disorder, due to a close friend having the illness, I can say for a fact that there is nothing glamorous about it and it is certainly nothing that an individual should strive to attain. I’m absolutely sickened by that fact that there are Pro- Anorexia and Pro-Bulimia websites which glorify dangerously thin bodies and post images and tips on how to achieve them. These sites provide false nutritional advice and avoid discussing the negative aspects of being too thin and having abnormal eating habits. Although eating disorders are not a new concept to our society, the ideals of thinspiration treat the disorder as if it’s a lifestyle choice, something acceptable. I think that it would be helpful to discuss on forums with other individuals suffering from the disorder, but only with the intentions of aiding one another in recovering and grieving. But instead, people will post pictures of skinny men or women and use that image as motivation to starve or purge. I feel like oftentimes people don’t know how to approach individuals who are obviously dealing with an eating disorder, so they just let them be and the conditions only worsen. Sometimes cases go unreported because one doesn’t look too skinny, for instance; it’s a difficult disorder to diagnose. I wish our society would stop being so critical ad realize that individuals with such a serious disorder cannot help themselves on their own; it’s a…

    • 500 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Dying To Be Thin Research Paper
    • 549 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Dying To Be Thin Research Paper

    “An estimated 8 million Americans have eating disorders.” Anorexia nervosa (anorexia) is a serious eating disorder that causes people to often drop “below 85 percent” of their body weight (Graves, “Chapter One”). Anorexia is about perception, what victims see in the mirror is someone who is “fat”. Anorexia can cause serious health problems; although, it can be cured. To understand the terrible disease anorexia one must understand what causes it, the effects it has on the mind, and the effects it has on the body.…

    • 549 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Persuasion Annotated Bibliography - Body Dissatisfaction
    • 466 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Persuasion Annotated Bibliography - Body Dissatisfaction

    In the Psychological report that I read, the authors really accentuated the point that media has made unattainable expectations for girls, adolescent girls, and young women and their bodies. Starting at the age of seven, young girls of all race and body have been thrown into the idea that their bodies aren’t as great as those in media. The media has forced many people to feel body dissatisfaction, causing physical and mental health problems. In this modern day and age, thin women are dominating media, such as movies, magazines and television. Being thin is consistently a more emphasized and rewarded aspect. While being thin is over-represented, overweight characters are underrepresented, and much more frowned upon in media. Most people don’t recognize that modern women in media are thinner than the population, as well as thinner throughout the decades, and because of this, the criteria for anorexia has become thinner as well. Fashion models, cartoons, movie and television actresses, Playboy Bunnies, and Miss America Pageants have all instilled the thought in women that media portrayals are reality. Because of media portrayal, body dissatisfaction has been the core aspect behind consistent eating disorders in women, such as bulimia, as well as low-self esteem, depression and obesity. Modern day media is showcasing bodies that are otherwise out of reach. These bodies are skewed and ingrained in women’s brains to adopt them into reality. Decreased satisfaction in bodies result in some negative eating behaviors such as dieting, bingeing and purging, as well as skipping meals. As mentioned in the report, different test have proven that such constant exposure to thin, or ideal, body images “shapes young women’s…

    • 466 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    What Effect Does The Media's Thin Ideal Have On Society?
    • 2426 Words
    • 10 Pages

    What Effect Does The Media's Thin Ideal Have On Society?

    According to Prah, there is a complicated combination of biological, psychological and social factors that cause eating disorders, and our culture continues to endorse thinness (3). Over time there has been a shift in the way that society views being thin. Starting at the end of the Middle Ages, “women who fasted were thought to possess evil spirits and were accused of being witches bent upon destroying the Catholic Church” (12). Next, in the 17th and 18th centuries, when women were too thin, they were thought of as being “victims of poor health” (12). Then in the 1940s and the 1950s, the full figured woman became the ideal (13). When Twiggy, a famous model who stood 5’9” and weighed 90 pounds, was growing up in the 1950s, she hated her body. She wanted to “look like Brenda Lee, very curvy and round” (Abagond), because that was the optimal body. But today, our society not only approves of being thin, but idealizes it. Before Twiggy, “the average fashion model weighed just 8 percent less than the average American woman, but today fashion models are thinner than 98 percent of American women” (13). The exposure starts at an early age; children are being exposed to the “thin ideal” with dolls such as Barbie, who “would stand 5’9” and weigh a mere 110 pounds” if she were a real person (13). This early introduction makes a big impact because as girls’ bodies develop, they become worried about the places that they are gaining weight where they didn’t have fat before (14). A sickening figure depicts that more than 50 percent of 9 and 10-year-olds say that “they feel better about themselves when they’re dieting” (33), and research found that girls who were as young as 7 years old thought that the thinner women in drawings were more popular and happier (34). These…

    • 2426 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Media sends unhealthy signals to young women
    • 423 Words
    • 1 Page

    Media sends unhealthy signals to young women

    Self-acceptance and self-esteem is one of the biggest issues for young women who believe that they are not beautiful. A high percentage of girls who do not think they are thin enough go to the extreme of anorexia, bulimia or even diet pills at a young age. A mental condition that they will live with for the rest of their lives, the life expectancy for those with this mental illness is very short because of the lack of nutrients. Women that are models will even reluctantly eat, a model at size 4, is considered fat while the average of America is size 14, in the 50’s the average size was 11.…

    • 423 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Sociological Imagination Essay
    • 475 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Sociological Imagination Essay

    In an article written by Colleen Thompson and Dr. Lauren Muhlheim, it is emphasized that more than just a few individuals in society struggle with the same issue of not being able to fit the ‘ideal figure’: “In North America, men and women are given the message at a very young age that in order to be happy and successful, they must be thin and fit... Thousands of teenage girls are starving themselves trying to attain what the fashion industry considers to be the “ideal” figure.” An individual person with an eating disorder could be singled out and their specific case could be thought has a person problem but with applied sociological imagination, society would realize that it's the obsession for the fair skin and thin body, creating a widespread public issue, that has indirectly affected thousands of boys and girls in the United States alone. Cultural structures such as the media are not the only structures in society that have an influence on what constitutes the idea body size and figure. The sociological approach to what can be considered as the “ideal figure” is respected because it can explain how social and cultural values affect the individual's attitudes towards eating. Furthermore, a sociological approach is useful for understanding eating behavior because it can explain why eating disorders appear in…

    • 475 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Research Paper On America's Obsession With Thinness
    • 1551 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Research Paper On America's Obsession With Thinness

    An average 5 '9 model 's weight is somewhere around 105-115 lbs. Of course, they are really beautiful. But their images are usually the only one we see in media every day, so we think that all women should look like them. We strongly believe that beauty is associated with being successful nowadays. Women compete with each other to be thin. Thus, media plays a strong role in reinforcing the thin ideal for women. Secondly, not only do the media and society tell us how we should look, our families and friends do as well. Women in colleges are very sensitive and easily influenced. Family members, especially parents, may be an early and influential source of pressure to be thin. Females usually receive negative feedback from their parents. Therefore, they feel more criticized, less accepted, less close to their parents and develop eating disorders. It is stated in a study that “Mothers of daughters with eating disorders exhibited more eating disturbances themselves and also wanted their daughters to lose more weight in contrast to mothers of daughters without an eating disorder. This finding suggests that the family 's attitudes towards eating are passed on to the child. Whether intended or not, daughters are aware of the drive for…

    • 1551 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Deviant Behavior In Prisons
    • 1212 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Deviant Behavior In Prisons

    Attempts to attain such beauty, body shape and weight has adverse physical, emotional and mental concerns. Examples, losing weight to be as thin as a model is unhealthy and affects physical and strength development. Women who cannot attain the ideal image suffer social and personal victimization which has a negative emotional and mental effect. Example, fat girls have low esteem issues and suicidal behavior due to social victimization. Cultural ideals of thinness dictate women and girls eating behavior with a highly unbalanced diet to maintain an extremely thin figure. Eating disorders arise when the person develops a diet plan that does not favor normal nutritional requirements of the body. Example, anorexia nervosa an eating disorder characterized by extremely low weight is catalyzed by media biasing of the image of a…

    • 1212 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Body Image & The Media
    • 469 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Body Image & The Media

    For many years, people have been influenced by the media, to think that a thin body is beautiful. They want to look like the people on television, movies, and in the magazines. To achieve this look, people starve themselves or binge and purge. This results in an eating disorder. Most people think that an eating disorder is someones choice; it is not, it is a mental illness.…

    • 469 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Eating Disorders
    • 2012 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Eating Disorders

    Society is sending a message to young women and men that in order to be beautiful and succesful then you have to be skinny. This notion of losing weight at all costs is causing eating disorders. The effects of eating unhealthy can be deadly. This paper explores the unhealthy effects of eating disorders.…

    • 2012 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    eating disorders
    • 1141 Words
    • 5 Pages

    eating disorders

    What has the world come to when women are given the message at a very young age, that in order to be happy or successful they must be thin. Our society repeatedly sends the message that thin is beautiful. Today every time we walk into a store we are surrounded by images of skinny, beautiful models that appear on the front cover of all fashion magazines. In the media, we daily see weight-loss programs advertisements featuring young underweight women. Diet commercials are constantly appearing on our television screens telling us that once we lose weight will be happier. This shows that the American culture tends to value people on their physical appearance rather than other important qualities. As a result, eating disorders have been on the increase because of the value society places on being thin. Media is brainwashing society into believing that being thin is important and necessary. Eating disorders are a common problem in our society but have not been acknowledged as much as they should. There are three subtypes of eating disorders: Anorexia nervosa, Bulimia nervosa and Binge eating. However, society is not the only contributing factor to eating disorders. Women with eating disorders have a difficultly controlling their actions. They suffer from low self-esteem which drives them toward perfectionism. Women set themselves standards that are unhealthy, physically and emotionally. These eating disorders can be life threatening if not treated on time. An examination of our society reveals that they are one of the major contributing factors to the three eating disorders among women.…

    • 1141 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Dying to Be Thin
    • 362 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Dying to Be Thin

    In the documentary, Dying to be Thin, dancers and regular people are asked about the pressure to be thin. This video has taught me that in our society being extremely skinny is considered beautiful. Not everyone is meant to be a size 2. It all depends on what your body type is. Everyone is beautiful no matter what size they wear. The word beautiful does not require the word skinny.…

    • 362 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Negative Body Image And Eating Disorders
    • 515 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Negative Body Image And Eating Disorders

    According to many doctors, eating disorders and negative body-image is increasingly common due to media and the expanding world of fashion. Eating disorders are not just physical but mental, as well (Bowen-Woodward). Each person struggling with this type of disease developed a negative body image from somewhere. Family , friends, and society contribute to creating a person’s body image, whether negative or positive. The effects of a negative body-image are harmful and sometimes even fatal.…

    • 515 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Eating Disorders
    • 688 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Eating Disorders

    In today’s society, humans feel the need to be perfect and appealing. Fit, size zero models are seen on every corner. Many women and men cannot handle the pressure and develop one or more eating disorders. “Eating disorders are a group of serious conditions in which one is so preoccupied with food and weight they can often focus on nothing else” (Mayoclinic.com, 2012). The most common eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder.…

    • 688 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More

Related Topics