Eating Disorders resulting from society imposed Ideal Body Image

Our societal obsession with food, eating and body image is masochistic. Even as we eat our food, we inflict verbal or mental abuse on ourself for doing so. Our eating disorders are primitive manifestations of masochism, expressions of self-hate and self-punishment, that have crystallized around the issue of eating.

Anorexia nervosa is voluntary self-starvation to the point of losing 25% of body weight, which sometimes leads to death. An anorexic is someone who chooses to starve herself. Her focus on controlling food intake is a cover-up for feeling powerless and ineffective in other areas of her life. Anorexics suffer from major body image distortions and inaccurate sensing and interpreting of bodily sensations.

The psychological symptoms of an anorexic are the following:

• phobias concerning changes in bodily appearance;
• obsessive thinking about food intake;
• obsessive-compulsive rituals;
• feelings of inferiority about self and aspects thereof;
• all or nothing thinking and behavior;
• disinterest in sexual activities;
• denial of reality with delusional thinking about visual input.

Modern western societies place definite expectations and prohibitions on women's activities. Women are expected to be petite, giving, passive, nurturing, understanding, loving and attractive. They are discouraged from being assertive, active, competitive and unattractive.

If the female stays thin and doesn't resemble a "real woman", she doesn't take on the social responsibility of her role to love, care for and nurture others. Being frail gets you looked after, cared for and you don't have to return the attention. Anorexics feel compelled to do extremely well, to excel at everything. They are perfectionists. They keep going at all costs. Perhaps these women are attempting to give themselves a broader definition than the female social role of our society allows.  Women are taught it is right to put ourselves last, even though such behavior may compromise our health.

Anorexics are struggling for control because they feel so out of control in all other areas of life except the body. There is a great sense of power and control in being able to stop bodily changes. And since they are also meeting the social ideal, in a manner of speaking, there are positive strokes to be gained for female compliance in this social structure.

Hunger is a physiological as well as a psychological experience. So when the anorexic starves herself, she is using the avoidance of food to punish herself on two planes.