News Flash: Flying Under the Radar: Eating Disorders and the Forgotten Generation

Know Thigh(self): I hate feeling my thighs touch one another. They did not touch when I was at my thinnest, yet my legs could barely support me then. This sculpture arose from that self-loathing. When I peeled the plaster off my thighs, I had to admit that they were not all that big. The process reminded me of how anorexia distorts thinking. -Judith Shaw, 58

Eating disorders have become an increasingly widespread problem in America, affecting millions of women due to society’s constant attention to and obsession with being thin. Various forms of media, including advertisements, film and television reinforce this behavior by pressuring women to conform and adhere to an unrealistic construction of beauty, imposing serious consequences on women’s health. More than 10 Million Americans suffer from anorexia, bulimia, and other eating disorders, and although many think such problems are limited to young adulthood and adolescence, the reality is that older women are just as susceptible to health risks as their younger female counterparts. Tara Parker-Pope’s NYT article “An Older Generation Falls Prey to Eating Disorders” explores the prevalence of eating disorders in older women, and addresses the many concerns that are being raised regarding women’s health.

Although eating disorders have traditionally been identified and associated with younger people, experts have begun to find more and more women showing up at clinics in midlife or even older. In Parker-Pope’s article, the woman is a 58-year old yoga instructor, Judith Shaw, whose desire to lose weight consumed her physical well-being, distorted her perception of herself, and ruined her confidence and self-esteem. Deciding to get “healthy” at the age of 40 after having children, exercise and diet soon become an obsession, and that obsession readily encroached on many aspects of her life.

Ms. Shaw, describing her struggle, expressed, “I was looking for something to validate myself. Somehow, the weight loss, and getting harder and firmer and trimmer and fitter, and then getting recognized for that, was fulfilling a need.” The sentiment Ms. Shaw expresses reflects an experience many women share, and resonates with the concerns Susan Douglass articulates in her book “Enlightened Sexism.” As Douglass reiterates in her chapter “Lean and Mean”, the rampant objectification of women in the media has imposed significant pressure on women to be thin, and has reinforced the notion that only when women become an object of desire can they obtain true power and happiness. The “need” that Ms. Shaw expresses is her need for validation and recognition. Unfortunately, the fulfillment of this need is directed outward, and thus cannot be satisfied from within. For Ms. Shaw, and many other women who struggle with eating disorders, this means their emotions and happiness hinge on the approval of others, men in particular.

Susan Douglass further details this development in her chapter “Sex R Us”, attributing this cultural power structure to the media’s attention to sex and sexual display. In women’s pursuit for sexual equity, a claim for equal power, women wanted to be seen as active and equal sexual agents, not mere objects. Through the “embedded sexism” and subtle manipulation of the media, the “sexpert” emerged; a cultural icon that women believed was a means to empowerment and liberation. However, doing so entailed further subjugation, requiring women to acquiesce to patriarchal standards and an unrealistic construction of beauty.

The message the media conveys towards women is clear; as Douglass expresses, “your body is your central, crucial resource in establishing your net worth as a female.” (216)And as women began to exhaust their options for weight loss and search for other alternatives in achieving this goal, more and more have resorted to engaging in cosmetic surgery and other harmful practices. Botox, liposuction, breast implants, and other cosmetic practices and surgery provided a new way for women to exert control over their bodies, but not without consequence. Studies beginning in 2007 have found that the suicide rate among women who had received breast implants was twice the suicide rate of the general population. (223) These findings illuminates not only the extent through which women punish themselves physically to be thin, but also indicate serious mental and emotional distress that follow, such as depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, and eating disorders.

With this said, it is even more important to acknowledge that it is not only younger generations of women who face societal pressures to be thin, but often older women. Also mentioned in Parker-Pope’s article is Cynthia M. Bulik, director of the Eating Disorders Program at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. The program, initially aimed at adolescents, since 2003 has had half of its patients being adults. Some may have had eating disorders early in life and have relapsed, but a significant minority first develops symptoms in middle age or later (Women with such disorders outnumbering men by 10 to 1.) Cynthia states “We’re hearing from women, no matter how old they are, that they still have to achieve this societal ideal of thinness and perfection. . . Even in their 50s and 60s… women are engaging in extreme weight- and shape-control behaviors.” Regardless of age, women in our society are constantly reminded of their weight through their consumption of film, television, advertisements, and other forms of media, and have been conditioned to be overly conscious of their weight and increasingly discontent of their bodies.

Researchers have found that, younger or older, patients tend to engage in the same destructive behaviors: “restricted eating, laxative abuse, excessive exercise and binge eating.” However, one concern that has emerged is that older women have become much more adept at concealing their problems; symptoms may be attributed to aging rather than an eating disorder. For example, when a thin adolescent stops menstruating, doctors typically raise concerns about weight and eating habits. However, in Ms. Shaw’s case, they assumed it was early menopause. Furthermore, when she developed anemia and osteoporosis, they attributed it to her age rather than years of malnourishment. Because of this trouble discerning eating disorder symptoms from age-related illnesses, many older women fly under the radar, likely a much higher percentage than we’ve been able to identify.

The increasing sexualization and objectification of women, especially at younger ages, in the media is what leads people to believe that disorders are limited to younger women; internalizing this assumption conceals the true extent and convolutes our perception of the problem. Failing to acknowledge these concerns and provide adequate support services and resources for older women represents our failure to address issues of eating disorders in its entirety, and will not diminish the problem in the long run. It’s important to understand that these issues develop over a lifespan, and that age represents a misconception, not a limitation, to the extent and reach of health related issues and eating disorders.

Works Cited:
Douglas, Susan. Enlightened Sexism: The Seductive Message that Feminism’s Work is Done. New York: Times Books, 2010

Parker-Pope, Tara. "An Older Generation Falls Prey to Eating Disorders"
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/28/an-older-generation-falls-prey-to-eating-disorders/?scp=1&sq=eating%20disorder&st=cse