tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561748834204284315.post1616452637312613353..comments2024-03-23T08:25:22.526-04:00Comments on ED Bites: Ads, outrage, and eating disordersCarrie Arnoldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02569839838912988783noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561748834204284315.post-9303214378714166992009-12-15T21:15:51.070-05:002009-12-15T21:15:51.070-05:00Anon,
That's a very good reason to boycott RL...Anon,<br /><br />That's a very good reason to boycott RL, I agree. I would join in the boycott of a company I didn't really purchase from in support of something that had a bit more ideological congruence, even if I was just another voice yelling into the wind.<br /><br />CG,<br /><br />You raise a really good point, and I think I might have to explore it more in depth. The emphasis on thinness is troublesome, yes, but what role it plays in the development of eating disorders hasn't been well-studied. The brains of many people with EDs tend to latch onto the pursuit of thinness as a "reason" for both the cause of the ED and the continuation of symptoms (though this reason is far from universal). Then again, the brains of anorexics from the middle ages latched onto "holiness" as a reason for their symptoms. So how different are these two factors? The truth is, I don't know.Carrie Arnoldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02569839838912988783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561748834204284315.post-51523457691914988392009-12-15T17:17:36.852-05:002009-12-15T17:17:36.852-05:00good point - I do want to say though that many suf...good point - I do want to say though that many sufferers, myself included, would never have felt they needed to lose weight, taken action to lose weight, and then become physiologically addicted to methods used to do so (i.e. binging and throwing up), were it not for that societal idealization of unnatural thinness in women.CGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05851942574351373975noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561748834204284315.post-64561502874529617342009-12-15T09:44:19.545-05:002009-12-15T09:44:19.545-05:00I enjoyed and agree with your post. However I am o...I enjoyed and agree with your post. However I am only too happy to boycott Lauren and other such companies, for lots of reasons- one of which being that they have clothes made by cheap labor in China and then jack up the prices for fools in the US who value the name so much they'll way overpay for it. That and the abusive treatement and objectification of women that is apparently necessary to make the clothes "look good" (which, by the way, I don't see). If I'm going to buy cheap crap from China (which I do try to avoid), at least I expect it to be inexpensive. <br /><br />Alas, like you, I already don't buy the stuff so my boycott would be meaningless but I am hoping plenty of other women will join in, and in general think more about how they are spending their money.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561748834204284315.post-83094082030257669882009-12-15T09:40:23.670-05:002009-12-15T09:40:23.670-05:00i agree with you. pre-ed, i hardly ever cracked o...i agree with you. pre-ed, i hardly ever cracked open a girl magazine. <br /><br />i do feel, though, that society's obsession with thinness makes it more difficult to recover from the ED once you're in it. i get these messages from all sides that conflict. on one side, you are unhealthy and dying. on the other, you are envied.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561748834204284315.post-44829742755564145142009-12-15T06:37:11.563-05:002009-12-15T06:37:11.563-05:00Ditto everything you and Cathy said. That last par...Ditto everything you and Cathy said. That last paragraph you quoted (Most cases of anorexia and bulimia...) made me laugh, because it was SO different to my experience and that of many other people I know. My self esteem is actually pretty good and other than a bit of an insecure period in my teens I've never thought I was fat, and that was certainly not my justification for being anorexic. I wonder where these people get the ideas that people with eating disorders all think they could understudy for Moby Dick? I suppose they only look at the symptoms, but honestly, being told that the risk for EDs is 50-80% genetic and then ignoring that to further a cause doesn't actually do much for that cause other than make it open to criticism and question. I'd love it if Ralph Lauren stopped making women look like cartoons but that's only because I object to the idea that the only way a woman can be attractive is if she's emaciated, not because it had any bearing on my health.<br /><br />Carrie, your blog is a great treatment for my low blood pressure ;)Katiehttp://themilkfreeway.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561748834204284315.post-85616143568213337182009-12-15T03:05:38.557-05:002009-12-15T03:05:38.557-05:00I totally agree. I get so frustrated with the over...I totally agree. I get so frustrated with the over-emphasis that society, the media, and even some professionals place upon the assumed role of 'skinny models/celebrities' in the aetiology of EDs. <br /><br />EDs are not CAUSED by culture. Rather, some (not all) people who have an ED are drawn to cultural cues that 'feed' their ALREADY ESTABLISHED illness. A symptom of an ED is to become sensitive to various 'triggers'. Similarly, distorted body image is sometimes a SYMPTOM (but not the primary cause) of an ED. <br /><br />Our society won't prevent or cure EDs by removing media images of thin women, or by banning adverts that focus on weight, food, image or diets. Such moves may make many women (with or without EDs) feel happier about their bodies, but contrary to what many people assume, I don't believe that EDs are an extension of normal concerns that every woman has about her physical appearance.<br /><br />(Sorry feminist writers and psychotherapists, but I don't buy all this sociological stuff about societal pressure on women to look good or to be mens' 'playthings' as a cause of EDs). <br /><br />The more that EDs are viewed for what they really are - i.e. a neurophysiological phenomenon - caused in part by inherent brain physiology and in part by starvation and disordered eating - the less stigma there will be around these illnesses.Cathy (UK)http://www.youtube.com/user/misstiggykinsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561748834204284315.post-65835066559900721552009-12-14T23:16:52.851-05:002009-12-14T23:16:52.851-05:00LOL at "holy-is-in." Nice post.LOL at "holy-is-in." Nice post.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561748834204284315.post-5335005745574876892009-12-14T22:27:12.613-05:002009-12-14T22:27:12.613-05:00Absolutely fantastic post - great read. I too did...Absolutely fantastic post - great read. I too did not join the facebook page as I felt the it lacked perspective in relation to the entire issue.<br /><br />Thanks for sharing your thoughts.Juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14818538212313466746noreply@blogger.com