Negative Body Image & Eating Disorders

The intention in this paper is to explore eating disorders in terms of their relationship to a negative body image and a negative relationship to the body in which the individual disowns the body, struggles with it, and generally exists in a split state in which self and body are seen to be in opposition.

There is considerable research available about both the causes of eating disorders and the way in which society views individuals who are overweight. In addition, there have been many discussions of the way in which the society's premium on thinness and a childlike body contributes to anorexia nervosa in different populations, particularly adolescent girls.

What has not been explored in such detail is the way in which eating disorders represent the struggle for control between body and psychological self, or the way in which eating disorders represent a type of image control, rather than a caring relationship between self and body. The fear of being out of control and the perfectionism that characterizes those with eating disorders seems to be the foundation of the disordered relationships with food.

The paper will provide a description of the basic types of eating disorders, brief review of different theories about causes of eating disorders, and evaluation of the available theories and data. The conclusion focuses on attempting to synthesize what is currently understood into a coherent discussion of eating disorders as a problem of self-body relationship expres

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ologically determined, her review, and her conclusion, indicate that it is culture that is determinative of body ideal. Yet, within that, in all times and places members of the society have sought to reach that body ideal, even at the cost of great physical pain and risk. For her, it is within this context that one needs to understand the individual's relationship to their body. In other words, the individual's relationship to their body is essentially manipulative, rather than intimate. Both women and men seek to impose a particular structure or design on their bodies in order to match social norms or to achieve status within their social group. The focus is not on the self - not on comfort or physical safety or the needs and feelings of the body itself - but on the community and one's place within it. That is congruent with the discussion of cultural factors in Kinoy and Holman (1992). They note that two main cultural issues could be associated with anorexia, the first being the cultural focus on slim, sexual female bodies and the second being the changing identity of women in society. That later issue is an interesting one to consider. Kinoy and Holman (1992) note that anorexia could be one way of retreating from

Category: Psychology - N