Western culture has had a big impact on how girls view their bodies. Body dysmorphia and eating disorders skyrocketed during the 20th century. Throughout history, eating disorders were not seen as bad or acknowledged until psychologists categorize it as being a disorder and unhealthy. No one chooses to have an eating disorder, in fact, people who have eating disorders do not acknowledge that their behavior is abnormal. Eating disorders and body dysmorphia are mental illnesses that need to be taken seriously. Having an eating disorder and having body dysmorphia are not the same but are similar to each other and you can have both. With body dysmorphia, you view your body in a negative way after looking at yourself in the mirror, you may decide to not eat anymore that day and consider yourself as fat. However there are three major eating disorders: anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder.
Binge eating disorders are characterized by repeated episodes of binge eating, followed by unhealthy ways in removing what they just ate out of their bodies. Some examples are, laxatives, self-induce vomiting and excessive exercise. Anorexia is when someone refuses to eat because of the fear of gaining weight. People who have anorexia also suffer from disordered body image; they see themselves as fat when inreality, they are below their normal body weight. Because their bodies are trying to restore fat, people with anorexia may not get their monthly period. With binge eating disorder, people who suffer from it, consume an unhealthy amount of food when they are upset. They will refuse to eat in front of people and are more likely to self harm.
It is very important to be aware of what you say to people with eating disorders about their weight or how they look because it could trigger some emotions. Although eating disorders only affect 0.5% of the population, girls still go through fazes during their adolescence years viewing their bodies as gross and feeling the need of being skinny. Body dysmorphia and eating disorders were a big issue in the 90s and early 2000s with Vogue Magazine and other popular magazines, displaying skinny tall models. Magazines would also publish paparazzi photos of well known people at beaches or doing an everyday activity and body shaming women on how they looked. Eating disorders are more seen in models than anywhere else. They are forced to maintain a certain figure in order to fit in the clothes made by the designer.
Social Media’s Impact
Social media is a social factor that causes eating disorders and body dysphoria. We have instagram models who photoshop and Twitter trolls tweeting whatever they want not caring if what they say affect others. An example is when twitter users made fun of Lizzo and her weight. Girls will see how people treat someone who is not skinny and will feel more pressure in having to be skinny so they are not treated that way. A big issue recently has been SnapChat filters. SnapChat has made filters to make people’s facial features appear like they have a smaller nose and stronger jawlines. Once those filters come off, people are less happy with what they see. They may think that they only would appear beautiful if they looked like those filters. Some go even as far as going to get cosmetic surgery to look like these snapchat filters.
As said before on one of our blogs, the ideal body is always changing. We now have girls feeling like they need to have a big butt and small waist to be considered beautiful. During the 90s and 2000s, it was all about the thigh gap and appearing extremely skinny. Body dysmorphia is now seen a lot in girls wanting cosmetic surgery. They want to resemble an instagram model and feel like their body type will not make the cut. This includes procedures like lip injections and lightbulb suction to obtain the hourglass figure. Likes and comments feed their addiction for the approval of being beautiful. What young girls do not understand is that genetics have a lot to do with your body type. Some girls can gain weight on their thighs, others their arms and others, their stomach. It is also important to take in consideration that on social media, things are not always as they seem. A lot of instagram influencers have brought awareness to the fact that many of their photos are edited. Eating disorders and body dysmorphic are disorders that are hard to overcome but with help from specialists, family and friends, it can be more manageable.
Author: Ashley Lovo
Body Image Through Media 