blog




  • Essay / The various elements leading to the spread of worrying trends in eating behaviors

    Eating disorders are psychological illnesses that lead an individual to eat more or less food to alter their physical and mental health. On the other hand, globalization is the process of increased interconnection of the world's societies through trade, exchange of culture and ideas. Notably, the main reason people develop eating disorders is purely for beauty, self-acceptance, and realism based on how society describes beauty. The psychological nature of this question invites a psychosocial approach to addressing the globalization of eating disorders. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Beauty is relative and different cultures describe or define beauty differently. From birth, an individual begins to be socialized on how to behave in society, what society expects from a person and how to attribute it. Beauty is at the heart of women's concerns compared to men. The second factor is that of the media; media through image content represents and defines beauty in a unique and very powerful way. Since the post-Victorian era, skinny women in Western culture have been considered the accepted and characteristic figure of a beautiful woman. The generalization of television throughout the world and the westernization of television content have led to the need to change cultures to integrate into them. Fijian women are a good example. In Fijian society; a beautiful woman wanted to be plump and tall for as long as possible. However, the introduction of Western media and the presentation of the image of the "skinny model" as the ideal led to the recording of eating disorders in a country that had never recorded them before. According to findings from the 1998 CIA World Factbook, 11 percent of Fijian women admitted to having had to vomit to lose or control their weight and 62 percent to dieting to check their body and weight. A similar case happened again in Nigeria when society shifted its focus towards skinny women after the first ever black African winner of the Miss World pageant came from Nigeria; Agbani Darégo. Men are not left out when it comes to the image of being muscular; Being bulky and athletic has led men to use steroids and injections to accentuate their appearance. A psychological framework must be used in order to address the problem of eating disorders. The multiplicity of global cultures must be recognized and one society must not appropriate the way another defines beauty. However, the psychological determinism of eating disorders is questionable on the basis that personality traits and environmental influences do lead to eating disorders. Hormonal changes during puberty, physiological and cultural influences actually lead to eating more or less (Feldman et al, 220). Adolescents experience the most significant hormonal changes, which warrant significant changes in their physiological makeup; women tend to eat more when they have their period. Such changes justify eating disorders and the usual case being that of pregnant women. Eating disorders cannot be the only product of psychological and hormonal changes, as environmental changes also affect them. Childhood abuse, isolation..