Do you think the media/magazines are to blame for teenager anorexia and bulimia?

Answer 1

The problem is not to look for blame, media or otherwise.

It is too easy to blame society or the culture or the media, but ultimately the responsibility belongs to the individual.

The same media is (or nearly so) is available to to all teens. The effects vary from one end of the scale to the other. Some chose to be anorexic or bulimic, but others chose to over-eat and become overweight or obese. Same media, different effects.

These are not victims. They each make their own choices. Nobody is forcing either a finger or a Twinkie down their throat.

Please do not take me in the wrong light. I am one of the Twinkie guys, but I learned this long after I was a teenager and long after I stopped reading and watching public media. If I can start doing something about my eating disorder, so can they. But they have to make the choice and then take responsibility for their actions.

Answer 2

I think that they are in part to blame, but there are also a lot of other issues involved. I became anorexic when I was 16 (but am now fully recovered and have been for 3 years)-I was previously overweight, and some school mates used to make fun of me, and whilst this wasn't intended to be nasty and didn't bother me at first, I decided to try and lose a little weight. Later this grew into an obsession, and all I could think about was losing more weight each week-I was basically addicted to losing weight. However, although the teasing and media images are what convinced me to diet, I don't think that they actually caused the anorexia. When I actually became anorexic, I wasn't concerned with the images in the magazines so much as I was concerned with having complete control over what I ate and how much weight I lost, although I did compare myself and my size to different celebrities.

I think that whilst the media/magazines do indeed promote the idea of skinny=attractive, they are not completely to blame. In my case, I was under a lot of stress when I developed anorexia (partly due to teasing, partly due to exam worries and partly due to family troubles), and desperately wanted control in my life, and one way in which I though I had control was over my food. (Obviously I didn't have any control-even when I wanted to, I couldn't make myself eat.)

I think that ultimately, in my case, the problem arose because I didn't know how to cope with how I was feeling, and I think that there is too much pressure on young people in general-pressure to do well at school, to "be popular", to "look cool", to "have a boyfriend", and these pressures seem to start piling on younger and younger children. I think that these are serious issues that need to be addresed.

If you are worried that someone has an eating disorder, please talk to them or another person you trust about it, because eating disorders are horrible, horrible illnesses and the quicker someone is given help, the better the chances are that they will make a full recovery.

Answer 3

they definitely have some responsibility, but what few people realize is that these disorders have much more to do with having control over ones body than wanting to look perfect. Most people with these disorders, and I say people because men also deal with this, are trying to have control over something in there life because everything else seems to be controlled by someone else. Parents teachers, even friends. This persons body is the only thing they can have complete control over.

So while I believe that media/magazines bear a certain amount of responsibility, I think a deeper look into the family lives of these individuals also needs to be taken. In many instances this is where you can find the real culprit, and this is where the healing has to begin.

Answer 4

I've never suffered with anorexia or bulimia myself, so couldn't say for sure, but it certainly does give the impression that to be successful and to look good you have to be stick thin.

I think parents do also have a big impact when it comes to teaching their children about health and the consequences of anorexia and bulimia.

I am personally a fan of the new Dove adverts which show larger ladies. I guess we also have to remember that the media will always focus on celebrities and if they are taking the decisions to be unhealthily thin, knowing that they are role models to younger people, then surely they are just as responsible as the media.

Answer 5

People have always suffered with these kind of problems over time (see biography on Emily Bronte, author of 'Wuthering Heights' - the biog is called 'a Chainless Soul').

Food has always been a sort of addiction - in terms of 'not eating' or 'eating compulsively' for some people in relation to problems in managing life. There is much evidence to suggest that throughout history, certain people, with certain sensitivities, have developed an eating disorder.

However, I do believe that the portrayal of women (and increasingly of men too) is generating this sort of horrific picture of the 'kind of man/woman who is absolutely ideal' - for women its seen to be a thin/ toned body and enormous boobs (sillicone enhanced of course) and for guys, the classic 'worked out' shape.

Because we are now bombarded with images of these 'super men and women' wherever we go, if we are feeling crappy about ourselves anyway (and negative emotions often focus on the physical when you are a teenager) many people tend to focus on the 'quick fix - how to change my body' - i.e. eating less and over-exercising.

So I don't think you can blame 'the media/ magazines' - its more to do with the info/tech explosion in general - the fact that we 'see' the new ideal of what we are 'supposed' to look like so much more often and more frequently than our elders ever did.

What would be good is much more of initiatives like the 'dove' campaign in the media - see http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.co.uk/

Answer 6

So many factors, so little time. I live in Bangkok where, its clear that both men and women are biologically thin, even after consuming huge amounts of calories, so no argument for the impact of magazines here. Therefore if this is a western cultural phenomena, could it be perhaps that women fundamentally see themselves bigger than they really are? For example, they look in the mirror and groan in dismay, whatever their size, in contrast to men who delude themselves about the attractiveness of their own body shape? This mis-self-perception did not start when Vogue decided that thin was chic, this has been the case for several hundred years in Western Europe. Perhaps, starting with the idea that to be thin was to be wealthy, once again in contrast to cultures where food is is in short supply, which tends to make being fat a sign of wealth.Just a thought!

Answer 7

Yes , if you notice in the 50's and 60's when the media had fuller sized women in magazines and on tv we didnt have this problem.


In Tonga + size women a found to be attractive due to cultural tradition.


So imho the media and culture plays a part.

Answer 8

Yes. Specifically the airbrushing that takes place.

You only have to take a look at the Pro-Ana sites to see what these girls are using as their 'thinspiration'. It's all photographic lies. Anyone bombarded with endless pictures of the 'perfection' can't fail but want to be like them.

Unfortunately teenagers, and a fair few of us adults, haven't accepted that even 'spotted!' style pictures have been through photoshop. It's all fantasy and it's causing teenagers to kill themselves.

I so wish we could stop all this.

Answer 9

Partly. I look at it this way. Quite a lot of the top designers are gay. Nothing wrong with that. But they like the look of their creations on young girls with boyish figures, thin with no curves. Their clothes are not designed to look good with curves. Therefore girls strive to be like the ghoulish models in order to look right. The so-called celebrities fight to be wearing designer gowns at award ceremonies (which after all only showcases designer clothes now) and they too slavishly succumb to the pressures of being scrawny thin. They in turn are role models for the impressionable young. Bingo! Job done!

Answer 10

Mostly. Wherever we look, we are bombarded by skinny women, and the skinnier they are the cooler they seem to be, according to the magazines. In a twisted way, even all the articles about "oh my god, these girls are too skinny" promote extreme thinness...you have comments about how unhealthy xyz is, and then a guide on how she got so thin!!!!

Answer 11

I believe that the society as a whole is to blame, we are continuously attacking people about their weight. We are shoving these stick figure people in their faces and saying that this is how you are supposed to look. Then we wonder why eight and nine year old girls are presenting with these problems.