Popularity: noun
1. The state or condition of being liked, admired, or supported by many people.
2. Apparent equivalent to suffering bulimia.
The world is full of different cultures, beliefs, political and economic systems, even people, the core of all civilization, are notably different from each other. However, there is a concept that appears to be the same all over and for as long as time can tell: popularity. There's always a bunch of people who stand out from the rest. A group of kids of every age range that are often looked up to and aspired to either become or be friends with.
The entertainment business has given these popular characters certain traits that have been a constant element time and time again. Popularity looks something like this: superficial, good looking, loaded with money, bitchy attitude, selfish/narcissistic, high sex appeal and often times bullies or conflict igniters.
When it comes down to popularity amongst women, one would hope that film and television would evolve in its classical representation and stereotypes alongside the female empowerment movement. Nevertheless, as disappointing as it is, these standards do not seem to have made any progress. What do Heather Duke (Heathers), Blair Waldorf (Gossip Girl), Marissa Cooper (The O.C.) and Hanna Marin (Pretty Little Liars) all have in common? It's something that goes beyond popularity and social status, something that impacts their audiences' mental health and wellbeing: bulimia.
It would be one thing if these powerful media sources would identify this particular eating disorder as what it truly is: a mental illness that affects millions of people all around the world with a significant mortality rate. However, it seems like the entertainment industry distorts this reality and manages to somehow make it an attractive lifestyle, especially to young girls in search of popularity and social status. Film and television present bulimia as an asset someone chooses to possess, a manageable behavior that one can simply turn to in times of despair.
However, they leave the cruel reality out of its depiction. Bulimia, like every other eating disorder, is not something one chooses to have, it's an illness that falls out of one's hands, an addiction that gives a false sense of control over one’s self image and body weight. The constant cycle of binging and purging that often comes accompanied by other illnesses and addictions knows no limits. Bulimia doesn't discriminate by age, gender, nationality, social status or background, it can strike anyone, anywhere, at any given time.
The fact that the disorder carries activities such as compulsively ingesting calories and then falsely compensating for the behavior with others such as self induced vomiting, use of laxatives and diet pills, abusive amounts of exercise, and in cases starvation, is what leads people battling with bulimia to be so secretive about their disease and go to great lengths to hide any evidence of it. These open to doors to hundreds of myths and lies formulating around the reality and danger that is living with an eating disorder.
Vanessa Schön, psychotherapist and author of Walk with Me: A Journey to Full Freedom from an Eating Disorder, gave an accurate depiction of what eating disorders are and what components they truly hold: “Eating disorders are bio-psycho-social diseases, meaning that there's a biological component to it. Your biology, there's a predisposition, your personality, the way you're wired basically. Psycho, in that regard, means psychological impact, psychological events that you've been through in your own life and your own experience psychologically basically, and a lot of times, eating disorders are accompanied with other mental health conditions. But then there's the social piece, and is really where culture is embedded, and it's crucial to change [...].”
 |
| Book cover for Schön's Walk With Me: A Journey To Full Freedom From an Eating Disorder |
ACTION
The problem with the entertainment industry and its portrayal of bulimia is quite simple: rather than exposing its dangers and consequences, it makes it something attractive to its audience. They erroneously depict how bulimia promises popularity, happiness, personal fulfillment and increased self-worth and self-esteem.
The reality of the situations is that this is a social phenomenon that has not just been present in recent years, but in the past century. The movie Heathers came out in 1989, and since back then, Heather Duke, one of the three most popular girls at school, has the nerve to ask Veronica to help her purge after lunch. Her equally popular friends, instead of showing concern and lending a helping hand, they actually impel and provoke her disease, showing no interest whatsoever in her “friends” well-being.
There's also the rebellious teenage girl Marissa Cooper from the series The O.C. Portrayed by Mischa Barton, Marissa is the eldest daughter in a dysfunctional family who falls in love with the newest and most troublesome boy in town, Ryan Atwood. She starts out as one of the most popular girls in Harbor School, and as the story progresses, her character and personality does as well. We see her get lost in the world of unhealthy consumption of alcohol, in defiant and mutinous behavior, and of course, she starts out in the downward spiral of having an eating disorder.
Then comes Queen B, (a.k.a Blair Waldorf), one of the protagonists in the hit TV show Gossip Girl (2007-2012). Besties with Serena van der Woodsen, Chuck Bass’ girlfriend, one of Gossip Girl’s all-time-favorite targets, and the most popular girl in school… who wouldn't kill to have Blair’s life? She gets all she wants, when she wants it and how she wants it. Plus, she appears to have her life all planned out and under control. Except she doesn't. Her perfectionism and high expectations come with a cost. In multiple episodes, her eating disorder is addressed, at first in a serious manner during a Thanksgiving dinner, but from there on, it appears to be parody material. But is bulimia worth having in exchange for popularity, love, wisdom and power? Some would cross their hearts it is.
Although there are plenty of examples of the media falsely portraying eating disorders, the final illustration here is Hanna Marin from the acclaimed TV show Pretty Little Liars (2010-2017). Loyal follower of Alison DiLaurentis, Hanna never seemed to be good enough or pretty enough for the fearless and radically popular Ali. It is shown through the show, especially its first season, that Hanna has a complicated relationship with food, with constant cravings for sweets and continuously binging upon them. After nicknaming her Hefty Hanna and body shaming her, Alison appears to persuade her into making herself throw up… which is just the subtle way of saying she moved her into developing bulimia. If the queen of the school makes you self-induce vomiting in order for you to continue being one of her pawns, the options of whether doing it or not are cut down significantly, but as the audience, the means and possibilities of becoming popular widen all of the sudden.
 |
| Posters for the exemplified film and shows. |
See the relationship between these characters? It's not their intellectual capacities or wishful thinking that makes them stand out from the rest and become role models to their audiences, but it's their popularity and what comes with it. Unfortunately, a common denominator within this characteristic appears to be having bulimia, which inevitably becomes part of their appealing social status and desirable way of life.
As a matter of fact, Anorexic and Bulimics Anonymous Committee Member, Alison Ensworth (North Vancouver, BC), commented on the devastating reality that film and television hold regarding the matter. “It's really disheartening - and that's putting it lightly. Eating disorders are insidious enough without the media throwing fuel on the fire by normalizing behaviors that are so deadly. It adds to the diet culture that not only threatens our well being instead of cultivates it; but also makes us more and more judgmental of ourselves and others as we demonize certain foods, behaviors, and body sizes while elevating others - placing moral value on things that have nothing to do with a person's worthiness as a fellow human being. It narrows our attention to things proven to in fact have a much smaller impact on health and wellbeing than other determinants, such as genetics, economic status, education, weight stigma, etc. This portrayal also perpetuates the racial biases of diet culture's roots, beginning in the 1800s, and thus further degrades our social cohesion and general humanity.”
She continued, “Not only that, it encourages behaviors - and perhaps introduces young people to ideas much earlier than they may have otherwise encountered them - that can lead to eating disorders. I once heard someone say that genetics and other factors may load the gun but society (and the media) pulls the trigger, meaning the folks who may have a genetic predisposition for mental illness or other disorders may or may not ever experience them, or maybe to a lesser degree, but the societal pressures we face to diet, over-exercise, and obsess over our bodies trigger those illnesses prematurely or to a greater degree.”
Since the erroneous portrayal of eating disorders in film and television appears to be more of a problem every day, Dr. Schön also had a say in regards to the matter:
THE MEDIA LIES, NUMBERS DON´T
As the number of cases of eating disorders around the world continues to grow, it is imperative to bring attention to some facts and statistics around bulimia. For starters, bulimia knows no limits in regards to the age of people who suffer from it, since kids as young as 7 or 8 years or adults in their late 70’s have been known to live with the disease. 30-70% of those with bulimia, also have an addictive disorder, self harm being one of the main ones (present in 34% of all cases)
Parallel to the condition, people with bulimia are more likely to have suicidal ideation and act upon them, suicide being the number one cause of death among people battling eating disorders, and although the number is radically high, only 1 in every 10 people with this condition receive professional help, leaving nine out of ten unattended and in grave danger. Even with the number of people that receive help for treating their eating disorder being extremely low, this does not guarantee a full and steady recovery, since 30-50% of the cases will experience relapse at one point or another.
Bulimia is also known for gravely endangering the health and life of those who suffer from it. The following infographic shows some of the most common risks:
As it has been presented before within the statistics that follow having an eating disorder, Christina mentioned having another diagnosis regarding her mental health while she was working through her ED recovery. Here's what she had to say about it:
THE ROAD TO RECOVERY
Recovery from an eating disorder is not easy and is not linear, but it most definitely is possible. There are thousands of organizations all over the world who are working on helping people of all ages through their recovery for their eating disorder, in ending the stigma that comes with having one and developing alternative solutions and plans to both work in recovery and maintaining it through the rest of one’s life.
There are certain associations such as the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), which offers online support as well as a call center with individual help. Their website also provides lots of information about eating disorders and everything there is to know about them. Tools for recovery as well as helpful information can also be found in their platform.
There's also Anorexics and Bulimics Anonymous, a fellowship of people all around the world working on their recovery from an eating disorder as a community. ABA offers meetings daily in diverse formats (even online meetings), all guided by their Big Book (similar to the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous), where trust, respect and confidentiality are imperative. Allison Ensworth, as both a part of the fellowship and in recovery herself, has raised her voice about what one can find within ABA as a tool in their recovery:
“A fellowship of people with diverse bodies, backgrounds, and belief systems, but with the shared experience of suffering from eating disorders or disordered eating, embracing the solution that ABA lays out! You won't find a "cure" - but if you're willing to take the suggestions from those with sobriety, you can find freedom - real freedom, joy, and happiness - from the obsessions around food, exercise, and so many other struggles. I found friendship among folks who had clearly been through the hell I'd been through (or worse) but had found recovery through the program and the support of the fellowship."
She continued: "I found a sponsor and other members who were willing to answer my questions, pick up the phone when I needed help, hold my hand through some of the toughest days of my life, and continue to love me to this day. It's a fellowship open to anyone who wants to stop unhealthy eating practices that are making life unmanageable to any degree, and there's no reason why the program can't do for anyone else what it's done for me,” Alison Said.
 |
| Book cover for the Anorexics and Bulimics Anonymous Big Book |
Other resourceful associations that people can turn to include Academy for Eating Disorders (AED), The Body Positive, FEAST, Mentor CONNECT, among others.
Vanessa Schön is no stranger to eating disorder recovery since she has also walked its path. As she narrates it in her book, Vanessa started dealing with her eating disorder at a young age, and if she could turn back time and give advice to her 14-year-old self, here's what she would say:
Following the road to recovery, Christina has also used her voice to talk about her own experience with it, which actually involves ABA meetings (among other things).
As soon the audience starts to realize that the core issue that leads the entertainment industry to mistakenly portray eating disorders in film and television is the overflow of stereotypes around it and the stigma that haunts it, then more and more people will normalize talking about this and more information will come to light, making it nearly an impossible task to glamorize having such disease. Millions of people in every country, of every age and gender, are working thoroughly in making sure that eating disorders are no longer stigmatized and looked upon by society, but are rather seen as another illness that needs to be treated and acknowledged rather than diminishing and present as an appealing means of popularity.
The following video shows a TedX Talk given by Gabrielle Berstein, a young student working in her recovery from an eating disorder, who is working hard in battling the stereotypes that surround the matter and using her own story as a catalyst for such movement.
The media must undoubtedly stop glamorizing and making an appealing situation out of the life of someone struggling with an eating disorder. When young people (both girls and boys) watch a preppy movie or a television show, popularity mustn't be associated with having an eating disorder, no matter the form it might be presented in. The power the entertainment industry has over its audience is so spellbinding, that it can be used for good and to break so many barriers that separate reality from stereotypical situations regarding eating disorders.
It seems, however, that it still has a long way ahead of itself in order to portray the reality that is dealing with one of these life-threatening diseases. The voluminous mistake of glamorizing binging and purging must end today, before more assumptions are made between the relationship that exists between being popular and having bulimia (or any other disorder for that matter).
Comments
Post a Comment