Eating Disorders free essay sample

Eating Disorders Introduction: For my research paper I chose to explore eating disorders and I chose three topics under eating disorders. The three topic I chose where anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder. I chose this for my final paper because I do not know much about eating disorders and I would like to learn more. I have personal connections to this because I have family or friends that have or have had an eating disorder at one point in their life. Eating disorders interest me because there is so much more I need to learn about them. Body Paragraphs: According to national eating disorders web site eating disorders are defined as including extreme emotions, attitudes, and behaviors surrounding weight and food issues. (http://www. nationaleatingdisorders. org/information-resources/general-information. php#terms-definitions). One type of eating disorder is binge eating. It is when someone feels like they have lost control of their eating so they just keep eating more and more. Now, all we see are women with the â€Å"perfect† body shape, and of course, every girl would die to look like that. â€Å"Within 38 months, the number of teens at risk for eating disorders more than doubled to 29 percent† (Goodman 79). Before television was introduced to the island of Fiji, the number of eating disorders was drastically lower than today. Within a little over a year, as the television was introduced, these disorders were on the rise. Wherever media has influence, women have become less self-confident, leading them to obsess about weight loss. While struggling to lose weight, they resort to unhealthy habits, and often, eating disorders. The constant portrayal of the perfect body has led many teens and young women to crave this image and never be satisfied with themselves. Women and teens cannot accept their reflection in the mirror because the person looking back at them is not as beautiful and flawless as the women they see in fashion magazines. â€Å"When girls and young women see such images, observers say, they are made to feel inadequate and may undertake extreme measures to try and emulate their idols† (â€Å"Update† par. 23). Because of the promotion of thinness, girls are never satisfied with their bodies. They watch T. V. and desire to look like the beautiful women advertised everyday. Often, young girls will harm themselves until they feel that they are comfortable with their bodies, which rarely happens. It is hard for adolescents to allow time to see their body transform as they exercise and eat well, so they will take part in an eating disorder to get quick results and not even realize the harm they are subjecting themselves to. â€Å"The promotion of the thin, sexy ideal in our culture has created a situation where majority of girls don’t like their bodies† (Hellmich par. 9). Every time young teens look in the mirror, they will find something about themselves they do not like. They will pick themselves apart until they feel that they are as flawless as these women on T. V. Girls who do not meet these standards, feel ignored and ostracized. Magazine companies have the option of using new models at any time. To date, they have proven to choose thinner and thinner models. If companies make a difference to this social crisis by choosing models that are representative of the typical woman’s body size, there would be a dramatic decrease in eating disorders. By doing so, women and teens would not be continually striving for that unattainable image, but would be proud to see see their â€Å"reflection† in the magazines and other media. The media has convinced millions of women that this ideal image is real when in fact its altered, airbrushed, or edited. It would be difficult to find a single photograph that hasn’t been edited before being presented to society. â€Å"It’s time that magazine and advertising executives recognize the role their displays play in setting unattainable standards of whats attractive† (â€Å"Beyond† par. 9). The media needs to understand the impact that they are having on society. They play a significant role in poor self body image and the rise of eating disorders among women and teens. It’s time they take a step back, realize this negative affect, and feel an obligation to help women appreciate themselves. â€Å"Women are more likely to develop eating disorders or cosmetic surgery to conform to unrealistic physical ideals that are flaunted in movies, magazines, and advertisements they contend† (â€Å"Feminism† par. 37). The only thing girls see on the pages of magazines are tall, thin, beautiful ladies. What they do not understand is the hours of editing devoted to that one picture before it is placed into the hands of society. When girls try to emulate their idols, they are naive to the fact that these girls are airbrushed and edited. The media has created the definition of beauty through an unattainable image an image that has become the desire and passion for women and teens to reach. Not everyone would agree that the media plays a significant role in the rise of an eating disorder. Some might argue that most people can distinguish between the fantasy portrayed in the media and the reality of our society. If this were true, then the incidence of eating disorders would not increase when media is introduced into new societies. Media equals influence. Take fashion for example. How does fashion become the â€Å"in thing? † It’s because the media puts it out there and people bite. Moreover, there are diseases all around us. If people were mature enough to make sound decisions and know right from wrong, despite the pressures that exist, then our society would not be battling things like drug and alcohol abuse, smoking, bullying, and more. Even more, people might argue that the media, aware that beauty is what sells, is doing their job of promoting products through beautiful people in order to increase sales. â€Å"Likewise the ‘beauty industry’ has convinced millions of women that chemical crap on their faces, and plucked eyebrows that are drawn back on, is ‘beauty’† (Anderberg 73). But isn’t this horrific disease worth the fight of our entire society including the media? Every last one of us has a responsibility to help thy neighbor, rather than profit from our neighbor’s poor self body image. The media plays a significant role in the onset of eating disorders. This is shown by the rise of eating disorders after the introduction of television, the constant portrayal of the perfect body image, and the advertisements using unattainable beauty. The more society is infected by media, the higher the incidence of eating disorders. Women and teens will never learn to appreciate their own bodies which leads them to a self destructive body image. What is shown on T. V. and in magazines is as unreal as cartoon character drawn by their cartoonist. Aside from the disease of eating disorders, this issue shows how influential our society can be upon one another. Stop supporting television and other advertisements by boycotting their goods and services until they accept responsibility. for this crisis The media has the responsibility to portray society as it is, rather than forcing this unrealistic ideal. Research more about the significant effects eating disorders has to women’s health and body image. Contact modeling companies and fashion industries and use your knowledge to help them understanding this negative effect on society, so they can help our future.