Feminist Perspective and Body Image Disorders

Body image disorders (BIDs) encompass the clinical diagnoses of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and body dysmorphic disorder, all of which feature significant distress surrounding the way in which the body is experienced. Prior to discussing feminist theory and BIDs, it is important to note that traditionally the term disorder is underemphasized in feminist literature. Feminists often argue against focusing on diagnostic categories used to label individuals because it is viewed as “pathologizing,” or assuming behavior is deviant. This matter has been the subject of extreme controversy between proponents of the medical model and those adhering to feminist interpretations. Feminists contend that when the beauty ideal compels women to feel shame instead of self-acceptance of the curves that make up the natural female form, body distress (however extreme) should not be [Page 272]interpreted as pathological. In fact, it is a normative and culturally sanctioned response to an unrealistic thin ideal that has persisted since the second wave of the women's movement. This is not suggesting that feminists do not view BIDs as debilitating; instead they are seen as representations of a very problematic cultural phenomenon. Hence, this body of literature emphasizes decoding the meaning underlying BIDs as opposed to simply treating the symptoms.

Feminists believe that the obsession with the female body has played a role in preventing women from becoming powerful.

The core feature of a feminist perspective is its consideration of social context and the critical examination of oppressive social structures that influence an individual's experience of his or her body. Because problems with body image and eating are about nine times more likely to occur in women than men (making eating disorders the most gendered psychiatric diagnoses in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders [DSM-IV]), the focus in the feminist literature is generally on the experiences of women. Feminists view the body as a cultural text on which messages about social norms, power structures, and systems of control and privilege are inscribed. Feminists recognize that despite two women's movements, the position of women in our culture remains secondary to that of men. That is, men still largely control decision making and the allocation of resources. Many feminists view the cultivation of an unnaturally thin ideal body for women as a means of maintaining this power differential between sexes. History has shown that during times when the social roles of women were changing and new opportunities were afforded to them, beauty ideals became increasingly thin. For instance, in the 1920s, during the women's suffrage movement, the rail-thin boyish figure glamorized by the famous flapper became the ideal for female beauty. Given this evidence, some feminists believe that an insidious obsession with the female body arose to prevent women from becoming too strong and influential.

Feminists decry the dieting industry and the objectification of the female body in Western culture as culprits in women's battles with their weight. Ubiquitous messages mandating weight loss if one's body does not fit the ideal causes an erosion of a woman's sense of self-worth and confidence. Furthermore, the energy spent buying into the mass media's “cult of thinness” costs women an enormous amount of productivity. In many cases, when a dieting woman reaches the slender body ideal, maintaining it requires hours of daily exercise and existence in a constant state of hunger. This makes it less likely that she will have time or energy to make a significant contribution in whatever roles she is upholding. Additionally, the woman who diets is often overwhelmed by irritability as she fights the physical weakness resulting from denying her body the food it needs to function optimally. Eventually, the body's propensity to return to its natural size wins, and if she has internalized the media-driven thin ideal, her self-esteem consequently plummets. This is a vicious cycle that occurs frequently among women. It allows for the perpetuation of the status quo with regard to gendered power structures and represents the primary contention of the feminist perspective and body image disturbance.

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