Guilt and Eating Disorders

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how eating disorders are among the most visible maladies that appear to be of psychological origin and how anorexia, bulimia and overeating have become common complaints among many, especially teen-aged girls, though those of other ages are affected, as well. In particular, it looks at how the role that the emotions of guilt and shame play in these conditions reflects the strong psychological underpinnings of each of these conditions.

Outline
Introduction
Socio-Cultural Origins of the Problem
Internalization of External Self-Image
Negative Body Image and Negative Social Opportunities
Societal Standards and Not Living Up To the Ideal
Freud and Guilt
Freud and Shame
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Central to the definition of anorexia is the disease's socio-cultural origin. Animals cannot become anorexic because they possess none of the social and cultural motivations of eating that human beings possess. Animals eat simply because they must eat to survive. There is no art of eating among the other creatures of the world - no ritual of dining, no cultural preference for certain kinds of nourishment, nor conversely, any taboo on the consumption of any kind of food. For other creatures, eating is a biological fact, one that is entirely uninfluenced by any other considerations. The moment culture begins to become involved in a human behavior that behavior ceases to retain a purely biological aspect. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bailey, Joanne Motino, and Marcia C. Inhorn. "Fat Talk: What Girls and Their Parents Say about Dieting." Sex Roles: A Journal of Research (2002): 443+.
• Blakemore, Judith E. Owen. "Children's Beliefs about Violating Gender Norms: Boys Shouldn't Look like Girls, and Girls Shouldn't Act like Boys." Sex Roles: A Journal of Research (2003): 411+.
• Brown, Jane D., and Kim Walsh-Childers. "Chapter 17 Effects of Media on Personal and Public Health." Media Effects: Advances in Theory and Research. Ed. Jennings Bryant and Dolf Zillmann. 2nd ed. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2002. 453-480.
• Collins, Lynn H., Michelle R. Dunlap, and Joan C. Chrisler, eds. Charting a New Course for Feminist Psychology. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2002.
• Dunkley, Tracy L., Eleanor H. Wertheim, and Susan J. Paxton. "Examination of a Model of Multiple Sociocultural Influences on Adolescent Girls' Body Dissatisfaction and Dietary Restraint." Adolescence 36.142 (2001): 265.

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