Lecture 15: Eating Disorders Flashcards
Feminists Theories of Eating Disorders (2)
- External etiology of eating disorders
- Internal etiology of eating disorders
The external etiology of eating disorders:
Some feminist theories argue that promotion of cultural attitudes celebrate thinness is a form of patriarchal social control over women.
Socializing women to suppress the desire to eat is socializing them to express their desires more generally especially sexual desires.
Internal etiology of eating disorders
Some feminist theorists argue that extremes in weight in particular can be understood as an attempt to dissociate oneself from feminine ideals (often in response to sexual trauma), in an unconscious effort to prevent further sexual trauma
Evolutionary Hypotheses of Anorexia (2)
- Developed from intrasexual competition among women for high value mates
- Two symptoms of anorexia (restricted eating and increased activity) might be evolved adaptations to food shortages in ancestral environments
How can restricted eating and increased activity be evolved adaptions in ancestral environments?
- Restricted eating - can lead to less intragroup competition for resources
- Increased activity - may lead to intensified foraging or initiate migration
Evidence supporting the evolutionary hypothesis (2)
- Non-human animals (rats/pigs) will demonstrate anorexia like symptoms under food shortages
- People who were most recently migratory have highest rates of anorexia (native Americans)
Who were the most recently migratory in the US?
Native Americans
Anorexia like behaviors have been recorded for ______ (time frame) but was motivated by the desire to be ________ or _____ rather than the desire to be ____
Centuries
Enlightened
Holy
Thin
Bulimia-like behaviors have been recorded since _____ _____ but it was motivated by _______ rather than the desire to be ____
Ancient time
Hedonism
Thin
Anorexia was recognized as a medical disorder in the late 19th century true or false
TRUE!
Initially eating disorders were thought to be more frequent among what people? (2)
- White people
- People with a higher SES
African Americans have cultural attitudes about body size that endorse a ______ ____ of sizes as desirable
Wider range
Some studies have found that African American girls/women are less ________ with their body size than European Americans while other studies have failed to replicate this result
dissatisfied
Risk for eating disorders is on the ______ among African Americans
RISE
What’s an explanation for the rise in eating disorder among African Americans
There is an increasing assimilation of European American body ideals
For Mexican American mothers and daughters (who are more assimilated to European American cultures) the daughters tended to what?
Express attitudes about body size that value thinness more
Initially it was believed that eating disorders in non-western cultures was comparatively _____ for example in countries like ______, ________
RARE
Malaysia, Singapore
In Hong Kong and India, restricted eating is often motivated by what reasons over the desire to be thin? (2)
- Religious
- Nutritional
Some have argues that ______ __ _____ _____ should not be a criterion to diagnose anorexia since it’s not a universal feature of anorexic behavior
Fear of weight gain
A study from South Africa found that ______ college students were more likely to have eating disorders compared to ____ and _____ college students.
Black
White
Asian
As countries modernize rates of eating disorders increase or decrease
Increase
Why might modernization increase rates of eating disorders (2)
- Traditional societies had protective factors modern ones lack
- Modern societies have risk factors that weren’t present in the past
Modernization brings with it greater social competition because (3)
Modern cultures are:
1. Less egalitarian than traditional cultures
2. Have Larger pools of competition
3. Emphasize achievement more than traditional ones
Who is more likely to experience anorexia by 10 times between men and women?
Women
