Eating Disorders –Is the Media a Factor?

Eating disorders have been around since way back in time. There is evidence in early literature to suggest that eating disorders have been around ever since we became conscious of our bodies, ever since we started feeling the need to maintain it in appropriate proportions. We can say that ever since human beings came across their reflections, many have felt the need to look good, maintain a good figure.

With that being the case, how do we account for the fact that the number of patients have grown so rapidly only in the recent past, i.e. over the last few decades? If we dig a little deeper, the reason becomes apparent – the enormous influence that the media has on our daily lives.

How Media Influence Works in Eating Disorder Cases

The media plays a very crucial role in the way we perceive the realities around us. One movie, The Truman Show, comes to mind in this context. The protagonist’s life is nothing but a well-orchestrated media stunt.

The media influences our actions by influencing our thought processes. You might hate to admit it, but the media plays a huge role in determining the way we do a lot of things. It influences our sense of dressing, living, and critically, eating. The last one, eating, is relevant to this article, and we will discuss it in detail here.

The influence of the media in the case of eating disorders is all the more impacting because it comes in so many forms – television, movies, the Internet, and even magazines and other such print media forms. The media projects images of what is perceived as ideal – with reference to this article – ideal body type. So when the media projects ‘slim’ as the way to be, by using slim models, actors, and other assorted role players to portray its idealized vision of beauty, or a ‘good body shape’, it is literally influencing the minds of countless viewers.

Increasing Eating Disorder Cases – Is the Media Solely to Blame?

While the above-mentioned argument is what is put forth by people who perceive the media to be the key element responsible for the rising number of eating disorder cases in America and across the world, not everyone swears by that line. For one, the people from inside the media industry have their own angle on things. The counter-argument put forward by them is that the media does not create imagery; it instead replicates existing trends in society and presents them in packaged format to the viewers.

The Media and Thinspiration >>