Anorexia And Media
...have changed dramatically for women since the sixties; however, these
criteria are most of the time unreachable. The society is more and more precise on what one is
supposed to look like, and the media is not helping by focusing on a superficial and “perfect”
body image. The most affected by those body pictures are teenagers, indeed they are a
vulnerable target.
What is portrayed in the media is the desire for thinness; models are as skinny as the
Jews during World War II in the concentration camps and sometimes die for reaching such an
extreme. Actresses tend to lose lots of weight to fit in this new prevailing “skinny chic” look
according to Brad Mc Lean. So one can raise the question is the media (television, ads,
magazines) responsible for causing eating disorder such as anorexia or bulimia among
teenagers?
Teen age is one of the hardest periods in life, teens need role models they can copy
and identify themselves with. Nevertheless, if those role models depict an impossible goal, it
can lead to a mental illness. On the one hand, it is vital to know what anorexia is and the way
the media influences teenage girls by illustrating disproportioned bodies and fake body ideals.
On the other hand, who is really responsible for driving those images and causing eating
disorders.
Anorexia is a mental illness which affects 10 million American females and “40 per
cent of newly identified cases of anorexia are females ages 15-19”, according to the National
Eating disorders Association. Anorexia is characterized by self starvation and excessive loss
of weight. Indeed, the figures have dramatically increased since the seventies where anorexia
and bulimia was concerning 0.5 to 1% of girls. Linda Smith a clinical social worker and
marriage and family therapist blamed “the magazines,...
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