What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger? – An Eating Disorder Struggle OP.ED.
No one would ever say anything against the people who look different than they do, but they also would never say that they desire to look like them… Have you ever wondered why? Culture and media have irreversibly damaged how young women of this generation look at their bodies and their health, and it has caused a massive uptick in eating disorders in teens in the last 10 years. Dr. Alisa Shanks, an eating disorder specialist from Denver, Colorado, spoke briefly in lecture about her 15+ year career.
From online users claiming that their eating disorder is a result of their choice rather than a disease, to those same users creating pro-eating disorder propaganda, the internet and media have both knowingly and unknowingly spread a wide message that having an eating disorder is normal. Over 54% of men and 75% of women are unhappy with their physical appearance. With the media perpetuating the idea that it is normal to want to change your body in unhealthy ways, it is horrific but unsurprising that 28.8 million Americans struggle with eating disorders of various kinds. Of the young women I know well, 5 out of 6 girls struggle with body image issues which are encouraged by the media and facets of female celebrity culture.
Media has not only changed in terms of shifting advertising to fit the disorders they are encouraging, but has also subliminally affected all of us. This has taken shape in viewing other people as products. We oftentimes have a bias towards or against those who look physically different to us, whether or not we are aware of it, making assumptions about things we do not know. In my experience, people who are skinnier often receive more compliments on their outward appearance than those who are not as skinny. Many cities that are “mainstream” in fashion prioritize the idea of thin-ness, which is largely advertised in the media’s glorification of unhealthily thin women. For people who are skinny, clothing is style; for those who are not, it is just an outfit.
Media has irretrievably damaged the way that we look at other people. It has gotten to the point where we do not see those around us as beautiful treasures anymore, but as semi-plastic objects with emotions. We were made in the Image of God, and our Imago Dei is inextricably linked to who we are and what defines us. In a culture where what is difficult to obtain is valued more highly, it makes sense logically that because we are surrounded by fast food and convenience stores, being thin would be an ideal. But the logic ends where it begins, because there is not an ounce of logic in trying to change the way you are in an artificial way. The human body was created to do four things regularly – drink water, eat food, sleep well, and breathe deep. Those four things are necessities of life. But the media airbrush has maintained the aesthetic-driven idea that you need to look a certain way in order for you to enjoy life. Everyone’s bodies were made to drink, eat, sleep, and breathe, but they were not made to function with no fuel.
The ethicality of encouraging eating disorders in the media is not debatable and needs to be stopped, ideally through a wide acceptance that our bodies were created wonderfully regardless of what shape they take. Every body should be respected, regardless of appearance. If you can respect the way that other people look because they take care of themselves, you can show yourself that same love too. You do not need to stop eating to look pretty. You are pretty. Your body moves. You eat the value of food you need to get through the day because you are taking care of you. With the media on our backs giving us paradoxical messages about the way that we ought to perceive our bodies, we need to learn to take back autonomy by the power God gives us as humans created in His image. He made you beautiful, let that make you strong.
