Plaza

Alexis Plaza
Ms. Meagher-Diello
English
11 June 2013
Anorexia: Heard at Last?
Anorexia nervosa is an emotional disorder characterized by an obsessive desire to lose
weight by refusing to eat. Many women between teenage years and their young adult years
obtain this through the desire to be extremely thin. Societys perception of a thin body as the
perfect body type fabricated the road for anorexia nervosa in females. When seeing a super
model being toothpick thin praised and loved, women want to live that lifestyle.

When it comes to the topic of anorexia nervosa, most of us will readily agree that it is a
danger to a persons health. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of
whether it is the individuals choice or the medias influence that leads to the desire. Whereas
some are convinced that The messages from the fashion industry, the media, Hollywood, and
society in general are enough to brainwash young girls into thinking theyve got to lose weightthat there is some ideal weight out there just waiting for them to under eat their way to, others
who maintain that there is indeed some magical weight for women, and it appears to be one
ounce on the correct side of anorexia. (Cockburn, Lyn. "The Skinny on Skinny." Herizons
Magazine Winter 2008: Vol. 21 No. 3 56) Ultimately, what is at stake here is the health of young
females.

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Although anorexia is more common in females than in males, there is a higher level of
females that have been diagnosed with anorexia in multiple entertainment industries, such as
dance. The dancers have either suffered from the disorder. In fact, statistics show that out of the
101.8 percent of ages sixteen to twenty-four females with anorexia, dancers were among the mix.
In early February, Judith Mackrell wrote an article about a dancer who was shunned from her
dance company over claims of anorexia. She comments on the movie Black Swan and how it led
to stereotypical views. She writes, As the brouhaha surrounding Natalie Portmans disturbed
and anorexic ballerina in the Black Swan, the issue of female dancers and their body weight is an
issue we cant seem to let go of. (Mackrell, Judith. "The Light Fantastic?" The Guardian
Magazine February 7, 2012: 18). Many individuals often see thin dancers and associate them
with some type of eating disorder. From Balanchines time, the dancers were often very lean and
through the years, a performer with this body type has maintained that way. The dance industry
has suffered with this controversy along with others.

The modeling industry has been under fire for having models who were too thin for
years. Many models would just go on a diet of lettuce and diet coke before a show or a shoot. As
gorgeous as the models were, they often developed anorexia and, unfortunately, some cases were
fatal. That all started to change in Israel when agents would tell models that were too thin to gain
weight or get off the runway. In an interview, Adi Barkan, comes to an important realization after
meeting with teen females and adult females. I saw them all- children, women- everybody
wanting to be good-looking. When I asked them, What does it mean? they said, The girls that

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you shoot. Then I understood that we are the problem (Rubin, Shira. "Israel Tells Underweight
Models to Gain Weight or Get Off the Runway." Christian Science Monitor January 4, 2013: 1)
Adi and several other advocates had a bill passed stating that models must have document with
them at all time stating that they are in a healthy weight and perfect health. After the bill was
passed, the death rates of females that had anorexia dropped significantly, making women
believe a curvy body was a beautiful one.

Be you and be okay with it. This is the quote that all women who have been diagnosed
with this disorder should think of. Seeing a toothpick thin model may be considered as beautiful,
but so is a well-curved, well-rounded female. This issue should not be swept under the rug. Why
does suicide get more attention than anorexia? If thought about thoroughly, anorexia is a form of
suicide. A woman slowly kills herself by not eating. It happens day after day with many women,
but no one notices. So, are they just left to die, or will they be heard?

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Works Cited
Cockburn, Lyn. "The Skinny on Skinny."
Herizons Magazine Winter 2008, Vol. 21 No. 3 56
Mackrell, Judith. "The Light Fantastic?"
The Guardian Magazine February 7, 2012: 18
Rubin, Shira. "Israel Tells Underweight Models to Gain Weight or Get Off the
Runway."
Christian Science Monitor January 4, 2013: 1