“We live in an empire ruled not by kings or even presidents, but by images,” (Bordo 215). Speaking from personal experience, this principle governs life in a modern capitalist America. Ever since advertising execs figured out that they can make a profit off of our insecurities, the media has dictated that our bodies are never good enough; and that maybe a certain product could bring us one step closer to that ideal that is being shoved in our faces from every direction. Initially, such advertising campaigns focused on women and their insecurities. However, there has been a recent change in the marketing demographic: now they’re going after men. While I agree with Bordo in her assertions that it’s theoretically great that media viewers now have wider opportunity to appreciate the male body for either “sexual fantasy” or “aesthetic admiration” (Bordo 215), I question the cost of such opportunities. Perhaps predictably, I’m talking about men and eating disorders.
Although I’m partial to the eating disorder research which considers eating disorders to have a biological component which is triggered by a particular event (which Bordo considers “dumb” (221)), I still think that cultural context plays a large role in the development of anything from disordered eating to full blown eating disorders. An image-driven culture such as ours is bound to create body image problems in targeted populations, which now includes men. Such is a consequence of introducing the male body into commercialism and thus social scrutiny. This is a point on which Bordo elaborates; however there is one large issue which she didn’t cover that I want to discuss. Perhaps since eating disorders have been stereotypically considered a “woman’s disease”, men now diagnosed with eating disorders often have their sexuality questioned. I imagine that the ignorant and stereotypical view of people with eating disorders, which involves “feminine” characteristics such as vanity and body/image obsession, contributes to such assumptions. This bias is even evident in eating disorder research. For example, ANAD (National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Other Related Disorders), which is a large national nonprofit organization who is second only to NEDA, cites a statistic that “Among gay men, nearly 14% appeared to suffer from bulimia and over 20% appeared to be anorexic.” 1 Why just gay men? What about heterosexual men? Or white men? Or black men? Or even just all men? Shockingly, there is no statistic cited which includes the percentage of all men who suffer from eating disorders. These assumptions are extremely dangerous and completely irrelevant. Eating disorders destroy lives whether you are straight, gay, or somewhere else on Fausto-Sterling’s continuum (see Fausto-Sterling’s “Dueling Dualisms”). These judgments are dangerous because it discourages many men from even admitting they have a life threatening problem, let alone getting treatment. This is evident from the fact that there exists only ONE residential treatment center for eating disorders that has its own men’s unit (Roger’s Memorial Hospital).
However, if the media is successfully selling self-improvements for men, shouldn’t beauty/image consciousness become more socially acceptable for men? Then in turn, could such a change diminish the influence of sexuality on attitudes towards men’s eating disorders? There seems to be the beginnings of a movement towards (at least) awareness of men’s eating disorders. For example, an organization has sprung up in the UK called Men Get Eating Disorders Too (MGEDT). You can visit their website at http://mengetedstoo.co.uk/. Hopefully this is the first of many organizations to bring light to and destigmatize eating disorders’ incidence in men.
Thus, while bringing focus to the male body (the ideal male body in particular) in the media has influenced conceptions of masculinity and improved the media viewing experience of those who appreciate the increased opportunity to view such bodies, there have been consequences in terms of males' psychological well being. Do such gains outweigh the consequences that come with them? I think not, but its up to you.
During high school a male friend of mine was engaging in dangerous eating and exercise habits. His lunch consisted of fish and he spent any and every free moment practicing extremely strenuous workouts. I was watching my close friend's health slowly diminish, but I didn't have the right words to communicate my concern to my friends, teachers and parents. It was truly a heartbreaking experience.
ReplyDeleteI am so happy to hear that groups exist that aim to raise awareness about these issues in men. This friend of mine claimed to be disciplining his body in hopes of one day becoming a marine, certainly not the feminine reasoning we assume fuels each and every person's experience with EDs.
What do you think is necessary now to raise awareness of men's experiences with EDs? How do you think we can go about building a language for it that does not rely on the "feminine" characteristics? I'm thinking that more personal stories about these men's struggles are the key.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with you, I think that personal accounts from men readily available via the media is important. I'm sorry to hear about your friend, its a terrible thing to have to watch someone you care about self-destruct. Being able to connect a face to a concept makes it all the more real and important. However, I think first and foremost, research needs to be done. The literature concerning the incidence of eating disorders in women FAR outweighs that of men. If even the world of medicine/psychology doesn't understand the phenomena, how can we expect the greater population/culture to understand it or accept it? But if the research isn't being done, we have to rely on organizations such as MGEDT to provide such personal accounts and to spread awareness.
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