Woods 1

Destiny Woods
Ms. Coco
English 1001
30 November 16
Audience: Anyone whom this information could help, such as people in the LGBTQ community,
loved ones and friends of sexual minority individuals, and people working in the health field,
primarily psychology

Preface:
1. Am I citing too much? I feel like I am using a lot of the information from the sources and
not incorporating a lot of my own ideas or assumptions because I am not very educated
on this topic.
2. Are my citations correct? I am not 100% sure that my citations are correct. I want to
know if there is anything I need to cite that I accidently didnt or if there is a different
way to cite than how I did.
3. Is my draft focused? Is it confusing in any way? Is there any way I can better organize it
or explain certain things?

Eating Disorders in Sexual Minority Individuals

Millions of people suffer from the effects of eating disorders in the United States every
year. Aside from these millions, whom have been clinically diagnosed, there are millions more
who experience unhealthy thoughts, including body dissatisfaction (Get The Facts On Eating
Disorders). Women are the main victims of eating disorders since our society emphasizes the
importance of womens looks, and the media sets high standards for women to be considered

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beautiful. Although it is less common and often undiagnosed, men experience eating disorders
and body dissatisfaction as well because they feel they should be more muscular and masculine.
There is much research that identifies the causes and effects of eating disorders among the
average man and woman, but there is little information on how eating disorders and body
dissatisfaction affect the LGBTQ community. Does the medias portrayal of body standards
affect homosexual men and women? Do bisexuals experience greater body dissatisfaction than
the average man or woman? Overall, what is the relationship between ones sexual orientation
and the causes, risks, and symptoms of eating disorders?
Before I did research, I assumed that men largely did not experience eating disorders, but
I turned out to be very wrong. (You used this phrase in the introI found in my research that)
Although it is less common than in women, millions of men go through eating disorder
symptoms every day. Compared to heterosexual men, however, gay men report eating disorder
symptoms and feelings of body dissatisfaction at a greater rate. According to a review by Karen
Heffernan, a clinical psychologist at Rutgers University, forty-eight gay men were studied and
compared to three hundred other male individuals. The results of this study found that gay men
were significantly more likely to report previous or current binge eating, fear of being fat, feeling
fat despite others' perceptions, use of diuretics to control weight, and scored higher on the Eating
Disorders Inventory (Heffernan 337). There are numerous reasons that gay men tend to
experience more eating disorder symptoms than their heterosexual counterparts. According to
researchers, one major cause is gay men experience greater body dissatisfaction than straight
men do.
Because of their desire to be masculine, gay men suffer from body image insecurities.
Based on the research done by Daniel Siconolfi et al. (Im not sure how this works in text, like

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Im not sure if tou need the et al or not. That would be something Id look up on Purdue) on body
dissatisfaction and eating disorders in gay and bisexual men, many men experience body
dissatisfaction (you use this phrase quite a bit, maybe find a new way to word it every now and
then) because the media portrays the ideal male body in a super muscular form that is nearly
unattainable without steroids. Also many gay men feel in order to be masculine, they must be
muscular. Findings now show that for this reason, gay men tend to experience even more body
dissatisfaction than heterosexual women, who experience the most eating disorders (Siconolfi
254-255 (you only need to include the page you used and if its two consecutive ones separate
them with a ,)). Aside from the influence of the media, it is thought that gay men also strive for
muscular bodies in an attempt to separate themselves from the stereotype of the weak, feminine
gay man. Throughout the lives of many homosexual men, they are looked down upon for their
feminine attributes and behaviors, which inspires them to become more masculine; this is known
as The Buff Agenda. This vicious cause and effect scenario leads them to believe that they are
at the hands of a heterosexual society of social and sexual desirability and power. (Siconolfi
255-256 (again the pages)). This Buff Agenda gives them a chance to compensate for their
degraded social status (Siconolfi 256). The medias influence mixed with The Buff Agenda,
adopted by many gay men, results in many men with high body dissatisfaction and body image
issues, which in turn leads to eating disorders. Here you need a transitional sentence because its
very abrupt how you are talking all about males then all of a sudden you switch to females.
Researchers have found that eating disorders are far more common among heterosexual
females than homosexual females, and as a heterosexual female with bulimia, I have always
wondered why that was. I was always confused as to why lesbians are not as concerned about
body image as much as heterosexual women. After researching, I became more aware of why

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lesbians experience less body dissatisfaction overall. According to a review by psychologists
Sarah Bankoff and David Pantalone, lesbians experience less body dissatisfaction and less issues
with their body image than heterosexual women because they are trying to attract women rather
than men. Men more often place a much higher emphasis on the physical appearances of their
partners than women, causing heterosexual women to be more concerned with their physical
appearance (Bankoff 263). A survey of American couples mentioned in Heffernans review
suggested that only 35% of lesbians rated the physical attractiveness of their partner as
important (Heffernan 339). Since women do not care as much about the looks of their romantic
partners, lesbians often do not feel the need to starve themselves or take part in other eating
disorder related habits to enhance their physical attributes.
One noteworthy correlation between body dissatisfaction and sexual orientation is the
presence or lack of femininity and masculinity. Gay men are said to have heightened femininity
as compared to heterosexual men, while lesbians, for the most part, have heightened masculinity
as compared to heterosexual women. In an investigation of prevalence of body dissatisfaction
and eating disorder symptomology by psychologists Christopher Davids and Melinda Green, it
was observed that femininity and masculinity are a factor in what?. They stated that,
heightened femininity/expressiveness is associated with increased eating disorder symptoms
and body dissatisfaction while heightened masculinity/instrumentality serves as a protective
factor (Davids 534). This relationship can apply to all sexual minorities and help explain why
certain groups are more susceptible to these unhealthy thinking trends (this phrase is very vague
and does not have much meaningmaybe try subbing it out for something clearer).
Bisexual men and women are part of another group of a sexual minorities that are
affected by body dissatisfaction and eating disorders, but they have been researched much less

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than homosexuals. The investigation of Davids and Green was one of the only reports that talked
about all three major sexual orientations: gay men, lesbians, and bisexual men and women. It
concluded that bisexual men experienced body dissatisfaction at a similar level to gay men
(Davids 543). Like gay men, bisexual men reported higher eating disorder symptoms and body
dissatisfaction, decreased self-esteem, an increased drive for muscularity, and higher femininity
relative to heterosexual men, resulting in an increased eating disorder risk in this population
(Davids 535). There is little research that could help describe why exactly this occurs in bisexual
men, but based on the knowledge of gay men trends, bisexual men have these issues with body
image and body dissatisfaction because they are subject to the same media as gay men. Because
the media says they have to be muscular to be masculine, they feel like they are trapped, and an
eating disorder is the only way out. At the same time, bisexual men are trying to attract men as
well as women. I concur that many of these men feel as though they must match the ideal male
body seen in the media, as well as distance themselves from the weak, feminine gay male
stereotype. Together, these ways of thinking could result in major body image issues and
eventually, disordered eating.
Just like how bisexual men have a similar experiences of gay men, bisexual women have
a similar experiences of lesbians. The only significant difference is that bisexual women showed
significantly higher levels of eating disorder symptomatology where homosexual women did
not (Davids 540). There is not much more useful information on bisexual women, but based on
the experiences of the individuals of other sexual minorities, I can infer that their eating disorder
symptomology may be higher because they are not only trying to attract women but also men. As
stated earlier, men value the physical appearance of their partners more than women, so I
understand why bisexual women would pay more attention to their bodies than lesbians.

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However, it would also seem that bisexual women contain more masculinity than heterosexual
women and would be protected from these body image issues, but this is not the case, creating
inconclusive results.
Overall, my research showed that sexual orientation does affect the prevalence of body
dissatisfaction and eating disorders in a number of ways. Eating disorder symptoms and body
image issues tend to show up in more feminine individuals such as gay men due to factors like
the media and its portrayal of what men should look like. The more masculine lesbian women
have less issues with these things because they care less about the appearance of their partner and
more about their personality. Inferences can be made about the bisexual community and its
reasons for encountering greater body dissatisfaction, but there is still a need for further studies.
All of this information can be helpful to mental health professionals, and the family and friends
of sexual minority individuals; they can have a better understanding of why eating disorder
symptoms occur. In a report written by three behavioral science and health researchers, it is
concluded that:
Those working with sexual minorities should understand the potential need for tailored
approaches to disordered eating prevention efforts, as (many studies) have highlighted the
unique stressors that may be exacerbating sexual minorities increased odds for engaging
in disordered eating behaviors. (Matthews-Ewald 444)
By understanding why individuals go through these problems, we can all make an effort to help
them to grow towards feeling self confident.

Works Cited

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Bankoff, Sarah M., and David W. Pantalone. "Patterns Of Disordered Eating Behavior In
Women By Sexual Orientation: A Review Of The Literature." Eating Disorders 22.3
(2014): 261-274. Academic Search Complete. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.
Davids, Christopher, and Melinda Green. "A Preliminary Investigation Of Body Dissatisfaction
And Eating Disorder Symptomatology With Bisexual Individuals." Sex Roles 65.7-8
(2011): 533-547. Academic Search Complete. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.
"Get The Facts On Eating Disorders." National Eating Disorders Association. National Eating
Disorders Association, n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2016.
Heffernan, Karen. Sexual Orientation as a Factor in Risk for Binge Eating and Bulimia
Nervosa: A Review. International Journal Of Eating Disorders 16.4 (1994): 335-347.
Academic Search Complete. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.
Matthews-Ewald, Molly R., Keith J. Zullig, and Rose Marie Ward. "Sexual Orientation And
Disordered Eating Behaviors Among Self-Identified Male And Female College
Students." Eating Behaviors 15.3 (2014): 441-444. Academic Search Complete. Web. 27
Oct. 2016.
Siconolfi, Daniel, et al. "Body Dissatisfaction And Eating Disorders In A Sample Of Gay And
Bisexual Men." International Journal Of Men's Health 8.3 (2009): 254-264. Academic
Search Complete. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.