Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Evan Silvera
The summer prior to my freshman year of high school was marked, unexpectedly, by
an eight week excavation into a sole fragmented psyche at Camp Blue Ridge. The all-girls
sleep-away camp served as a sort of social training ground to prepare incoming high school
students for their new roles as freshmen. Every day, one of the girls in my bunk, Sarah, would
wake up looking exhausted and leave the bathroom after getting ready with a self-assured
smile upon her face. At first this seemed like the routine of a girl who was unhappy with her
physical state prior to her morning ritual of hygiene; a few days later, the real reason became
apparent. The first time I walked in on Sarah vomiting into a toilet, I was enveloped with a
shroud of worry and panic. Sarah insisted to me frantically that she was "just sick." I found
that explanation plausible until I noticed that Sarah was "just sick" a lot. When I confronted
Sarah about her illness, she begged me not to tell anyone. I knew I could not continue to
comply with Sarah's cry for secrecy, so I acted upon my gut feeling to inform the camp's
This experience sparked my inquisition about Sarah's illness and the secrecy behind it.
Why didn’t Sarah want to seek the help of the camp’s counselors? Why was she so afraid of
I have since learned that Sarah is not an isolated case; legions of men and women who
suffer from mental illnesses silence themselves rather than seeking help. According to Stacy L.
Overton and Sondra L. Medina’s peer-reviewed article “The Stigma of Mental Illness,” less
than 30% of people diagnosed with mental illnesses actually seek treatment (146). Eating
disorders are among the multitude of conditions that are classified by the Academy for Eating
Disorders (AED) as mental illnesses. The National Eating Disorders Association defines the
illness and its set of causes as “complex conditions that arise from a combination of long-
irregular hormone functions, poor self-esteem, negative body image, and a dysfunctional family
Symptoms, Signs & Treatment Help”). In their article, Overton and Medina cite stigma as a
principal reason why the majority of the population afflicted by mental illnesses do not explore
potential remedies.
A breadth of studies exists that delves into the relationship between mental illness and
stigma. According to Overton and Medina, stigma is “a multifaceted construct that involves
feelings, attitudes, and behaviors” (143). In this paper, I use this definition while also
emphasizing stigma as fundamentally associated with shame. It is important to note that the
stigma surrounding mental illness has long historical roots and continues to persist, as
research article titled “The Paradox of Self-Stigma and Mental Illness.” The article details
personal narratives of those impaired by mental illness, highlights the damaging effects of
stigma on their disease, and explores the paradoxical nature of self-stigma. According to
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Corrigan and Watson, stigmas against psychiatric patients permeate public perception. The
general population discerns the mentally ill from the physically ill by picking up on behaviors
that they feel are out of the ordinary or abnormal (36-38). Corrigan and Watson indicate the
three components that comprise this stigma towards the mentally ill: stereotypes, prejudice, and
stereotypes that tarnishes the quality of life for a mentally ill individual (37).
Although stigma against mental illness is pervasive in contemporary society, the stigma
against eating disorders is more often misunderstood because it takes a variety of forms. In this
paper I argue that simplistic attitudes towards eating disorders in the media have contributed to
a continually morphing social stigma that trivializes the severity of eating disorders. I will
evidence this claim by highlighting the dietary and gendered construction of eating disorders
that advertisements in magazines endorse. I will then proceed to critique the depiction of
biological factors, pointing out that a deeper understanding of eating disorders’ complexities
might provide the empathetic environment necessary for more women and men suffering from
The existing literature that investigates the stigmatization of mental illnesses suggests
that eating disorders are stigmatized more severely than other mental illnesses. Perhaps this is
because eating disorders can be “picked up on” or identified more easily. According to the
National Eating Disorder Association, 20 million women and 10 million men are afflicted by
eating disorders throughout their lifetime; even more astonishing is the fact that eating
disorders have the highest mortality rate out of any mental illness. Despite these concerning
figures, studies theorize that the stigma surrounding eating disorders is more prevalent than
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Stewart, Pamela K. Keel, and R. Steven Schiavo assess a study that was conducted to measure
international perception about a healthy person, a personal with a physical illness, a person
with a non-eating disorder mental illness, and a person with anorexia. Their findings
underscore the hypothesis that eating disorders are stigmatized as fundamentally connected to
biological and psychological than eating disorders; this is a salient indication of the inapt belief
that eating disorder pathology is socially constructed (323). Stewart, Keel, and Schiavo explain
the public’s lack of knowledge about the biological and psychological factors that contribute to
eating disorders and the consequent trivial attitude towards them. They write, “It is likely
easier for a lay person [without an eating disorder] to understand body dissatisfaction as a
cause of AN [anorexia] than to comprehend the possible role of genes that code for the 5-HT2a
receptor in the etiology of the disorder” (324). In other words, people without eating disorders
find it easier to place the blame on social factors that cause eating disorders than accepting that
any part of the cause for the eating disorders derives from genetics.
Although academics and experts concur that eating disorders arise from a number of
factors, the research exploring eating disorder symptomatology tends to overemphasize the
influence of social factors. In their article “Adverse Effects of the Media Portrayed Thin-Ideal
on Women and Linkages to Bulimic Symptomatology," Eric Stice and Heather E. Shaw, from
Arizona State University, report on a study which evidences that the internalization processes
that emanate from exposure to the thin-ideal in media have both direct and indirect links to the
development of bulimia (302). Television, advertisements, social media, and online content
weight dissatisfaction, and the drive for thinness, and in turn eating disorders. In the critical
study conducted by Marika Tiggemann and Amanda S. Pickering presented in their article
“Role of Television in Adolescent Women’s Body Dissatisfaction and Drive for Thinness”,
soaps and serials were the key programs that spark these patterns of thought and symptoms.
Furthermore, Anne E. Becker and her colleagues in “Social Network Media Exposure and
Adolescent Eating Pathology in Fiji” posit that social media transmits eating disorder
symptomatology. Their study found that when young Fijian girls viewed Facebook photos of
thin women online, the rate of internalization increased; as a result, eating disorders became
stereotypical attitudes and stigmas towards eating disorders that lead to misguided perceptions
about the illness. Incessantly littered throughout a variety of publications, these ads
commonly feature images and stories about celebrities and models who epitomize the thin-
ideal. Myriad studies unveil the clear link between often-idealized celebrities, their influence,
and body dissatisfaction, which in turn catalyzes eating disorders. John Maltby, David C.
Giles, Louise Barber, and Lynn E. McCutcheon published the results of their study in an
article titled “Intense-Personal Celebrity Worship and Body Image: Evidence of a Link
Among Female Adolescents,” which found that admiration for celebrities and their body
images affects eating pathology in female adolescents. Their article invokes the example of a
young girl Kara who developed anorexia in an effort to emulate Vogue model Kate Moss’
physique (19).While some sufferers develop their eating disorders in an attempt to closely
resemble glorified celebrities, not all sufferers are influenced by celebrity culture and the thin-
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ideal that surrounds it. The emphasis on advertisements that endorse the thin-ideal has led to
false representative samples of eating disorder sufferers. Society has manifested a grossly
simplifying a real, complex mental illness that is caused by a multitude of factors down to a
vain aspiration that is born out of societal pressure to equate beauty with thinness.
Some may argue that there are indeed several eating disorder cases that are directly
While this is true in some cases, this argument skews public perception by engendering false
generalizations about the larger population of eating disorder sufferers. This shortsighted
perspective emphasizes the social factors that play into eating disorders and ignores the
biological and psychological foundations of the disorder. Some sufferers concur that
advertisements reduce the severity of their mental illness to an unwise choice that they make in
order to succeed in the pursuit of societally accepted aesthetic presentation. Recovered anorexic
Amelia Tait expressed her frustration with this simplistic attitude in an article she wrote for
VICE; she details numerous stories of eating disorder sufferers she met who had causal
attributes that were entirely independent of media. The failure to consider the non-social factors
that inspire eating disorders suggests that social factors such as media portray eating disorders
as a lifestyle choice, distinctly different from a deleterious pathology that is the crux of a
The prominent magazines that delineate the thin-ideal via advertisements and discuss
dietary habits of celebrities have gendered stigmas that further contribute to the social stigma
that trivializes eating disorders. Magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Vogue, Teen, Young Miss,
and Seventeen target an audience of primarily female adolescents (Vaughan and Fouts 314).
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The bulk of content of these publications is painfully stereotypical of the societal attributions
and expectations of the female sex. These supposed pieces of self-help literature are plagued
with endorsements promoting makeup and clothing, as well as advice and tips regarding
The thin-ideal of beauty propagated by magazines suggests that women physically should
take up less space than men, thus supporting the existence of a patriarchal society. Because
magazines that sell the thin-ideal are directed towards a teenage female demographic, the
pathologies that they aid in forming are often seen as mere byproducts of the standards of
beauty that females are expected to meet. This notion hugely trivializes the severity of eating
disorders because it fails to legitimize the complexity and reality of the psychological factors
Some may argue that approaching the stigma through a patriarchal lens perpetuates
sexism and minimizes the plight of male sufferers of eating disorders. While it is true that the
majority of eating disorder and media studies focuses on females, the point that eating disorders
are on the rise in males supports the idea that a myriad of factors, including nonsocial factors,
need to be investigated for their roles in those conditions. Such a hypothesis is backed by a
study Jennifer A. O’Dea and Susanne Abraham conducted to measure disordered eating and
exercise disorders among a sample of the male populace called “Eating and Exercise Disorders
in Young College Men”. According to O’Dea and Abraham, “significant exercise concerns”
were present in one third of the participants in the study (276). These findings imply that there
in the media and disordered eating behavior. However, academia and society at large have not
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given sufficient consideration to how this phenomenon affects men. Men suffer from some
intriguingly different yet equally complex psychological disturbances relative to women, and in
both cases eating disorders need to be treated with more nuance and awareness of each
situation’s complexity.
Framing eating disorders as a lifestyle choice and using images to motivate disordered
eating behaviors is unintentionally stigmatizing due to the way that they influence popular
streams of thought, particularly within those afflicted. If eating disorder sufferers believe that
they are making the choice to succumb to societal pressure and develop an eating disorder,
society will be inclined to view eating disorders as social in their nature and not strongly
mischaracterization perpetuates the stigma against eating disorders by lending false credibility
to the idea that eating disorders are a choice and that visual media is a vehicle to encourage
making the “right” choice. Rarely on these sites are the psychological elements of eating
disorders discussed; the absence of scientific and emotional discussion on these sites
underscores a significant cause of the social stigma that surrounds eating disorders because of
their supposed lack of intricacy and causes outside the realm of media and social pressures.
movement, which has given way to an oversimplified way of looking at eating disorders. As
Social media, where users exchange information and photos and communities form
over common interests, has become a bastion for some struggling with eating
disorders.
Images of spindly legs, concave stomachs and jutting ribs emerge on various sites by
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girls don’t eat,” “Skip dinner, be thinner” and “You have to exercise for a week to
Numerous scholars have explored the effects of thinspiration on public perception of eating
disorders and on those afflicted. Professors Jannath Ghaznavi and Laramie D. Taylor at the
University of California, Davis crafted the research article “Bones, Body Parts, and Sex
thinspiration content on social media through the lens of social cognitive theory. According to
Ghaznavi and Taylor, “Social cognitive theory proposes that people learn from modeled
behaviors and are more likely to imitate such behaviors when they can relate to the model and
when the behavior is rewarded socially or otherwise” (55). While this is generally a valid way
to view social behaviors, when applied to eating disorders, it yields an inept oversimplification
of a grave mental illness. Eating disorders are not merely social behavior.
Some argue that media is a vehicle for facilitated recovery and that these media outlets
provide unique opportunities to forge connections and create solidarity among eating disorder
sufferers. According to a Huffington Post article “How Instagram Is Helping Me Recover from
place where people are genuinely proud of you if you're doing well or feeling OK, but they also
want to support you if you're not” (Proud2BMe). While constructive use of social media in
aiding eating disorder sufferers is praiseworthy, this viewpoint obscures the fact that, on social
media outlets such as Tumblr, content that encourages eating disorders is almost five times
more pervasive than content that serves to help provide a sense of community and hope to those
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afflicted by eating disorders (De Choudhury 48). The fact that a proportion of the population
believes that eating disorders can be mitigated through the use of social media should not
overshadow the fact that the media’s role to this point has been more of a facilitator of eating
The relationships between eating disorders, media, and stigma demand further scientific
research, but hopefully the findings of those studies can make their ways eventually to the
public and not simply the physicians, psychologists, and psychiatrists, who are attempting to
treat eating disorders. The realization that eating disorders are not entirely derived from social
institutions but rather emanate from a number of multi-dimensional factors is the first step in
raising public awareness about the issue. If society recognizes the pervasiveness of the stigmas
associated with eating disorders, those afflicted by eating disorders will likely feel less reticent
towards admitting their illness and more likely to seek proper treatment.
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Works Cited
“About An Eating Disorder: Symptoms, Signs, Causes & Articles For Treatment Help." Eating
Becker, Anne E., et al. “Social Network Media Exposure and Adolescent Eating Pathology in
“Contributing Factors & Prevention.” NEDA (National Eating Disorders Association), n.d.
Corrigan, Patrick W., and Amy C. Watson. "The Paradox of Self-stigma and Mental Illness."
Response to Intervention." Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology 29.7 (2010): 756-
770.
Crisp, Arthur H., et al. "Stigmatisation of People With Mental Illnesses." The British Journal of
Ferguson, Christopher J., et al. "Concurrent and Prospective Analyses of Peer, Television and
Social Media Influences on Body Dissatisfaction, Eating Disorder Symptoms and Life
Satisfaction in Adolescent Girls." Journal of Youth and Adolescence 43.1 (2014): 1-14.
Ghaznavi, Jannath, and Laramie D. Taylor. “Bones, Body Parts, and Sex Appeal: An Analysis
Klin, Anat, and Dafna Lemish. "Mental Disorders Stigma in the Media: Review of
“Learn Basic Terms and Information on a Variety of Eating Disorder Topics.”National Eating
Levallius, Johanna, et al. "Who Do You Think You Are?-Personality in Eating Disordered
Patients.”
Maltby, John, et al. "Intense-personal Celebrity Worship and Body Image: Evidence of a Link
Among Female Adolescents." British Journal of Health Psychology 10.1 (2005): 17-32.
O'Dea, Jennifer A., and Suzanne Abraham. "Eating and Exercise Disorders in Young College
Overton, Stacy L., and Sondra L. Medina. "The Stigma of Mental Illness."Journal of Counseling
Rojas, Marcela. "Social Media Helps Fuel Some Eating Disorders." USA Today. USA Today,
Eating the Internet? Content and Perceived Harm of Pro-eating Disorder Websites."
Stice, Eric and Heather E. Shaw. “Adverse Effects of the Media Portrayed Thin-Ideal on Women
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Tait, Amelia. “My Eating Disorder Had Nothing to Do with Barbie or the Media.” VICE. Feb.
Vaughan, Kimberley K., and Gregory T. Fouts. "Changes in Television and Magazine Exposure