Eating Disorder Research Paper Essay

Media and society argon often spend a penny worded at as a source of daily entertainment, gossip and news. Every daytime, raft be constantly exposed to thousands of images of glamour, beauty, celebrities, and much more than. The media is so compelling that it has the spot to change what people believe in. The images that be shown repeatedly tiller a focussing into teenagers mind and they require to be a part of what the media shows. Teens sp chastiseliness the subscribe to to change their physical structure to get word a certain way and be homogeneous some genius else. But a fact obscure to teenagers is that even celebrities consistency are not perfect. The most common land eating disturbs are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.People with anorexia have a huge solicitude of gaining weight and a change in their body shape and size ( bear Disorders). Anorexia has been characterized as a rich white daughter disorder because most anorectics are white and near three-quarters of them come from households at the pump income take or above (Davidson and Fundukian). Bulimia on the other exit is when a person eats large amount of food oer a short period of time then later performs activities to filtrate to burn the calories off. Binging is the most common symptom of bulimia and it is often do when exhausting to get rid of the food eaten.Bulimia is thought to ingrain around 1% to 5% of teenage Ameri female person genitalia girls and up to 3% will be bulimic at some point in their liveness (Arnold and Walsh 30). Studies show that media flick has a direct impact on disorder symptoms and indirect inwardnesss by means of gender role endorsement, exalted-body assort internalization and body satisfaction. The covers of magazines display pictures of both men and women whose images are offered as near perfection in society. Research has shown that even brief exposure to ads showing highly attractive models results in decreased satisfaction with mavens own appearance (McMurray).Teenagers should know that celebrities are not magically elegant and thin, they are made to see to it that way. Todays stopping point is unique in that the media is a far more powerful armorial bearing than ever before (Derenne and Bersin). The media has been named as a causative factor for body dissatisfaction, which promotes unrealistic standards of female beauty and show images that create and reinforce ethnical definitions of draw. (Qtd. in Wexler). The media opens the door of eating disorders to teenagers and brainwashes them into phoneing that world thin is meaning(a) and necessary.The media needs to be very careful in the cores that they give to teenagers regarding body image. Dr. Bond says how the media should be more responsible in not print pictures of very thin models and celebrities because young people wish to emulate them. Eating disorders are not going away, if any social function they are be approach path more common (Thinspiration? ). Advertisements everywhere continually expose the notion that losing weight will make people happier. Advertisements that show thin celebrities reach egress to individuals attesting them what they raise be or become if they were thin.By looking at these advertisements, women blow up to find oneself insecure about the way they look. The NEDA reports that womens magazines contained 10. 5 quantify more advertisements and articles promoting diet and weight loss then were found in mens magazines. It also reports that a study of 4,294 net kick the bucket television receiver commercials revealed that one out of every 3. 8 commercials conveyed some sort of attractiveness substance of what is or is not attractive (Qtd. In Wexler). Many women a great deal compare their bodies to those around them and the body images on advertisements lowers their self-esteem.The advertisements of celebrities affects the stereotypical idea of an ideal body which leads to eating diso rders (Stice et al 5). Online, there are websites that promote anorexia. Teens with anorexia fanny then put up pictures of their skinny bodies for other anorectics to cod and tone encouraged by. They feature pictures of celebrities such Keira Knightley and Victoria Beckham that promote 400-500 calories a day diet. In a year alone more than 500,000 people visited the sites and a 2011 EU survey found more than one in five-spot six-to 11-year olds had been exposed to one or more sites with these harmful content (Thinspiration? . Teens who are anorexic retrieve that having an eating disorder is not a elusive thing.They look upon each other for support, telling each other secrets of losing weight. The repeat Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels by Kate Moss is best-selling(predicate) among these pro-anorexia websites (Wardrop). TV shows also send the meaning to be thin to whoever watches them. Disney Channel, which attracts millions of viewers, curiously the young, made fun of eating disorder and actually promoted the idea of being thin. In the show Shake It Up, someone stated I could retributive eat you guys up, you know, if I ate (Party It Up).In other Disney show, So Random, a conversation goes on where one character tells another(prenominal) Angus only eats one full meal a day to which Angus replies My agents always on me about looking my best (Colbie Caillat). Disney believes about eating disorders as a thaumaturgy which is not dangerous. For many kids, the people on Disney are their role models, and if kids see their role models not eating, they are going to think that it is okay to not eat. Also if Disney encourages the idea of not eating that kids will do the equal thing. Demi Lovato who battled an eating disorder attacked Disney about these risky messages that they send to kids.Experts say that Lovato terminatedid the Pandoras Box about the dangerous effects television shows can have on the negative body image of young women (Disney emer ge esthesis). Even in other TV shows, the overweight characters are most similarly portrayed as lazy and the one with no friends, while thin characters are successful and popular. This also sends a message that in order to be successful in life a person has to be thin. Teenagers feel pressured into looking the way society wants them to look like.Everywhere they go, they see posters of celebrities enhanced to look perfect. Society thinks that if someone does not look a certain way then it is not bankable and that they should change how their body looks. From a young age, women are given the message that in order to be happy, they must be thin. Thousands of teenage girl starve themselves to attain what the fashion industry considers to be the ideal enroll (Thompson). Society has become obsessive and prejudiced when it comes to body image. Society and media work together to get that one message across to teens immediately to be thin. New diets come out every month and media spends money trying to advertise them and get celebrity endorsements.In stores, the front pages of magazines show that one celebrity that everyone looks up too. How they talk about that one diet that changed their life and made them happy again. Teens think that if these celebrities can be skinny, then why cant they? Teens spend their times looking at websites and magazines that tell them how to be skinny. By constantly portraying perfect bodies in the media, it promotes creaky eating that can sometimes lead to death (Disney Pop Star). Even today, dolls like Barbie send that message to young girl to be thin.The Barbie doll is a stereo fictitious character of a woman with no flaws and a perfect body who gets to be whatever she wants. Girls who play with Barbie feel the need to look and act like her. The traditional Barbie is known for her 40-18-32 measurements (Young) which would be unproportional on human bodies (Grey). If Barbie were real, she would be 59 tall and weigh cx pounds, abou t 35 pounds below the minimum rose-cheeked weight for a woman of that size (McMurray). Barbie helps to perpetuate an ideal of materialism, beauty, and being thin is enjoyment and since a young age, the desire to be thin is recognized by girls everywhere.But eating disorders doesnt just affect women, it affects men also. In a study by Harvard researchers, 25% of 3,000 adults had anorexia or bulimia and 40% of binge eaters were men (Boodman). Just like women, men also feel pressured into looking a certain way. In school, boys are told to be healthy if they want to keep playing a sport. But that habit can become something more dangerous. Studies show that gay males particularly place a higher calculation on thinness than heterosexual males, with a level of c erstrn for thinness almost equal to that of the typical heterosexual female (Anderson, Cohn, and Holbrook 41).Because of this many men might be afraid about coming out to the world about their eating disorder. Some people think o f an eating disorder as more of a woman thing and psychological tests for eating disorders are biased towards diagnosing women (Anderson, Cohn, and Holbrook 41). Eating disorders are also common in the entertainment business. Celebrities and models are also infra pressure to look their best. The intermediate model weighs 23% less than the average woman and fit the category of being anorexic (Thompson). Models go through plastic surgery and photos are air-brushed before going to print.The body type and images are unobtainable to the average individual and the constant force of these images on society makes teens believe that they should be. Many celebrities and models who feel that an eating disorder is something more dangerous than what everyone else seems have come out and talked about that issues. Even celebrities who once had an eating disorder spend time educating others and telling them that it is okay to get help. In 1992 after the news about Princess Diana being bulimic was released, there was a significant increase in the number of bulimia diagnoses.This effect then came known as the Diana Effect (Celebrities Who Battled Eating Disorders). Just like how Lucy Grealy states in her memoir Autobiography of a Face, Beauty, as defined by society at large, seemed to be only about who was best at looking like everyone else (187) it looks like that concept has not changed since that time. In todays society everything is about being thin and trying to look like a model or a celebrity. Teenagers try to do everything to make themselves how society wants it but in the end they just obliterate themselves.Society and media think of an eating disorder as a magic but it is a disease a disease that has the power to take the lives of both women and men. For anybody out there who thinks that an eating disorder is not a big deal then they are wrong. People, especially the media, should know that the message they send out to teens is wrong everything is not just about b eing thin. Simply by the media bringing out the concept that being beautiful and thin is necessary for a successful life is wrong. Having to look like a model to be accepted in society is wrong. both these messages have a huge negative effect on teenagers and they think down of themselves just because they do not think they are right for society. The fake advertisements that are shown is just another step for teens to developing a dangerous and deadly addiction that is called an eating disorder. I think we look at society and we look at every ad that out there and everything that tells us how were supposed to look, and how were supposed to live, and how were supposed to be instead of saying Is that how really I feel? , Is that really what I want to do? , and Is that really how I want to live? (Ellen DeGeneres).