Eating, food and the female body in the media and medicine: A feminist analysis of eating disorders

Abstract

“Food is the medium through which women are addressed; in turn food has become the language of their response” (Orbach cited in Benson 1997, p.137) The above quote sums up the way in which dominant conceptions of femininity filter through social practice and can become literally reflected in one’s physical body and bodily habits. This essay seeks to examine how women come to embody social ideals concerning food, eating habits, appearance and‘femininity’ itself. In particular it will seek to clarify how interpretations of eating and the female body both in the media and in medicine can become embodied and even become synonymous with ‘femininity’. Eating disorders are widely acknowledged to be a phenomenon of advanced industrial countries. Moreover, the great majority of those with eating disorders are women, though the number of men affected is growing (Roach-Anleu, p.368)