The empowerment of black women has brought unexpected health issues caused by the Western

conception of how women should be in this fast-paced and still homogenized society. Perhaps, the
rise of anorexia and other eating disorders in black South African women could closely relate to their
incorporation into the urban culture and the shift in their social status. Examples of this are the first
case of anorexia in black women hitting South Africa right after the end of Apartheid or the time
coincidence between American women's suffrage and the first Miss America pageant. Recent studies
show black women currently equalize white women in terms of eating disorders, as others
emphasize the contradiction between self-acceptance and empowerment or the effects of new
social change independently of race. Since black women in South Africa usually come from rural
environments that celebrate plumpness, bumping into a society that believes the opposite causes
frustration and self-esteem often encouraged by their environment. It is vital to understand the
implications of why black women are beginning to suffer from these issues to comprehend the
dynamics of our society and what should be changed to stop the wave of mental disorders engulfing
it nowadays.