Reflection:
My goodness, this paper by far was the most difficult part of this class. My first draft was all over the place and was lacking in a lot of areas. I feel exhausted just by looking at it. I feel confident in the overall outcome. I received help from a few different people. I took a lot of consideration into what was said on my draft. I rearranged my entire paper, deleted some paragraphs, and added some. I finally feel like my message is being successfully conveyed to my audience.
Original:
Original:
Media is very influential in the
majority of our lives. Whether it be the clothes we wear, our hairstyle, or what
music we listen to, media contributes to our society by setting a standard or a
goal for everyone. Society as a whole shares certain customs and beliefs. The
way we perceive ourselves has a lot to do with media. In the renaissance [KA2] era from the 1400’s to late 16th century[KA3] , the ideal beauty was voluptuous. By today’s
societal standards, voluptuous back then might be considered over-weight now.
Soon after the renaissance came the Victorian era, where sexy meant having the
smallest waist possible. The 1920’s were a decade of women resembling men.
During the 1930’s to the 1950’s women desired the hourglass shape of Marilyn Monroe[KA4] . The 1960’s and each decade after
followed with the thinking-thin phenomenon was in full force. With society
having such a strong force on how we act, what we wear, and how much we weigh,
is it reasonable to assume that society is to blame for the overwhelming rate
of eating disorders? [KA5]
It isn’t unreasonable to question if
media causes eating disorders. If I walked in to the nearest grocery store, I
would be sure to find at least a few magazines that have an airbrushed beauty
on the front, who looks like she could have a weight of 100 pounds. I could
open up any one of these magazines and be sure to find a diet advertisement
that promised perfection. I could turn on the television and easily find a
commercial that is advertising an “extreme” weight loss supplement[KA6] . Society glorifies those women who munch
on carrots all day and are too full to eat dinner. We glorify those women. We
buy the magazines and the diet pills that promise perfection. So how could
anyone say that media isn’t the cause of eating disorders?
There are two common types of eating
disorders. Anorexia
nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by self-starvation, an unrealistic fear
of weight gain, and conspicuous distortion of body image. Bulimia is
characterized by binge eating and engaging in inappropriate ways of
counteracting the bingeing in order to prevent weight gain. [KA7] There is no sole cause of eating disorders
however; numerous studies have been done to show that biological,
psychological, and environmental issues play an important role. A deregulation
of the Hypothalamus- pituitary-adrenal-axis has been associated with eating
disorders. The HPA is a complex process which everyone has that is a major
component of eating behavior[KA8] . So, in a case study with several
individuals, some suffering from eating disorders while others have healthy
eating behaviors the HPA-axis would process differently in each group. While
the group who had healthy eating habits ate a meal, their HPA-axis would function
regularly. Perhaps, it would send the neurotransmitter epinephrine, which
regulates the rewarding property of food. The other group with eating disorders
would have neurotransmitters sending signals of anxiety, depression, or
failure. In
the Diagnostical and Statistical Manual of Health Disorders (DSM-IV). [KA9] Eating disorders are on axis one and are
seen to be comorbid with other disorders along Axis two. For example, one with
an eating disorder may have had or could possibly develop OCD (obsessive
compulsive disorder), which belongs in axis two. There[KA10]
are varieties of childhood personality traits that are associated with the
development of eating disorders.
“During adolescence these traits may
become intensified due to a variety of physiological and cultural influences
such as the hormonal changes associated with puberty, stress related to the
approaching demands of maturity and socio-cultural influences and perceived expectations,
especially in areas that concern body image (New Medical).” [KA11] Many
of these traits are highly heritable such as; openness to experience, extroversion,
meticulousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, fear, novelty seeking, Alexithymia,
rigidity frontal lobe, obsession, impulsivity, and inferior frontal gyrus.[KA12]
Some environmental factors include
child abuse of any sort, an environment that is insufficient according to diet,
isolation, peer pressure, cultural peer pressure, and parental influence. Notice I did
mention cultural peer pressure (media) [KA13] as
one of the environmental factors associated with an eating disorder but also
notice all the other environmental, biological, and physiological factors that
I previously mentioned. This being said, one who is diagnosed with an eating
disorder is not promised to have all of the previous symptoms or traits, but is
more likely to be associated with the majority of them than less of them.
This may sound like a bunch of
psychobabble, which is why I want to include my experience with Anorexia
Nervosa[KA14] .
I was diagnosed at the age of thirteen. I can remember being on several diets until
no diet was good enough. I can’t pinpoint my diagnosis to any one particular
cause, but I can relate it to many. As previously mentioned, a family with
anxiety disorders can possibly predispose those in developing an eating
disorder. I have a family of five and two of the five suffer from some kind of
anxiety disorder. I was also diagnosed with depression, which, is related to
the neurotransmitter serotonin and the neurotransmitter epinephrine. Serotonin
has an affect on inhibitory affect on eating behavior and epinephrine as stated
above, regulates the rewarding property of food. As for the personality traits
seen in those with an eating disorder I can easily say most relate to my eating
disorder. Traits like conscientiousness, neuroticism, low self-esteem,
perfectionism, and obsessionality. I am not a meticulous person, but I have
shown this principled behavior throughout my recovery. I can remember getting
released from the hospital and having my first meal at home. Right after
consuming the meal, I felt anxious and out of control. I immediately started
cleaning. My family soon learned this was my way of coping with feeling out of
control. Neuroticism relates to the thalamus of the brain and refers to an
individual’s tendency to become upset or emotional. I can always remember
having this irate tendency and believe it to be genetic. As a child I remember
my dad working on projects and if the output was not perfect he would become
very upset. And it’s strange how this genetic trait as well as others affected
my sister and me differently. My sister developed Obsessive Personality
Disorder while I developed an eating disorder. By no means am I saying my
eating disorder is my parents’ fault, but I do believe certain genetic
predispositions had great effect on the development[KA15] .
It is hard to deny that culture
standards and media don’t have any affect on eating disorders, but media is
certainly not the sole cause. “ If Media caused eating disorders, I think half
the country would have a diagnosable eating disorder (Brown).” [KA16] As
a society we all “consume” unattainable ideas of beauty and what is attractive.
These images affect everyone as a whole. Women, men, and children are barraged
by advertisements and unrealistic ideals on a daily basis. It is up to us to
navigate through these unrealistic goals. [KA17] To
know what’s healthy and what isn’t.
Questions and Comments Relating to
My Draft…
1) I’m worried that I’m all over the place
and wouldn’t make sense to the reader.
2) Do I sound too pretentious or scientific?
3) I know I have a lot of grammatical errors
but am more worried now about the overall flow of the paper.
4) Should I rearrange the paragraphs or
completely get rid of some?
5) I didn’t know if I should include the
personal story but wanted the reader to be able to understand what I was saying
in the previous paragraphs. Should I delete it?
I feel like I’m all over the place. I do
plan on going to the writing center.
Amy,
I think that you have a good start to
your paper, but I do worry a bit about your focus. You may want to try and do a
“reverse” outline for the essay so you can pinpoint what you are saying about
your main argument in the text. Also, try to think of your main argument as the
most important thing in the paper—don’t let your scientific support rule the
paper—your thoughts, ideas, and argument are the most important parts and the
research should support you—not the other way around. I think that you could use your personal
experience, but you need to show how it supports your main argument about media
influencing body image. You have a good story, but you need to make that
connection clear for your reader. I think that once you make sure that all of
your points go back to your main argument, then you will be able to write from
there. Overall, I think that you have a solid start and I look forward to
reading your final draft. KA
[KA1]Please
make sure that you visit Purdue OWL for MLA formatting guidelines on the
heading, title, and page numbers.
[KA2]Capitalize
[KA3]You
need continuity here. If you are using 16th century, then you should
have 15th century for 1400s OR if you are using 1400s, then you need
to use 1500s for 16th century.
[KA4]I
like that you are showing the progression of the beauty ideal here, but I am
getting bogged down with all of the numbers and years. Is there another way
that you could get this point across without using all of the numbers?
[KA5]Are
you making the argument that it is? I think that would be better as your thesis
statement. Remember that a thesis statement should be an assertion rather than
a question.
[KA6]I
really like these specific examples that you are giving, but could you rewrite
it from a third person/objective perspective since it’s a more formal paper?
[KA7]Where
did you get these definitions? Even if they are paraphrased, you need to cite
your sources.
[KA8]CITE
YOUR SOURCES
[KA9]?
Is this your citation? Please check Purdue OWL on how to create in-text
citations.
[KA10]Should
you create a new paragraph here?
[KA11]Any
quote that is four lines or more should appear as a block quote. Please see
Purdue OWL for instructions.
[KA12]Where
are you getting this information and what are you doing with it? You should
spend a couple sentences (at least) at the end of each point or example
demonstrating your thoughts and showing how it connects to your main argument.
[KA13]I’m
confused with what you are talking about here.
[KA14]Even
though you are about to give a personal experience, you still want to avoid
authorial narration (telling the reader what you are about to do using I) in a
research paper. Is there another way to introduce it?
[KA15]It
would strengthen your argument if you showed how media may have affected you.
If you are using your personal experience, then you have to show how that
experience offers support of your main point: that the media influences society’s
understanding of thin.
[KA16]Does
this go too much against your main argument?
[KA17]I
really like your writing here. Good job!
Amy VanDeventer
Professor Kendra Andrews
English 1102
December 10 2012
The
True Impact Media has on Eating Disorders
With society having such a strong force
on how we act, what we wear, and how much we weigh, is it reasonable to assume
that society is to blame for the overwhelming rate of eating disorders? Whether
it be the clothes we wear, our hairstyle, or what music we listen to, media
contributes to our society by setting a standard or a goal for everyone. There
is no sole cause of eating disorder, but numerous studies have been done to
show that biological, psychological, and environmental issues play an important
role. To leave any one factor out would misconstrue what an eating disorder
actually is.
There are two most common types of
eating disorders, Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa. Anorexia Nervosa is an
eating disorder characterized by self-starvation, unrealistic fear of weight
gain, and conspicuous distortion of body image. Bulimia is characterized by
binge eating and engaging in inappropriate ways of counteracting the bingeing
in order to prevent weight gain. With both Bulimia and Anorexia a deregulation
of the Hypothalamus- pituitary-adrenal-axis has been associated with eating
disorders. The HPA axis is a part of the brain which controls reactions to
stress and regulates many body processes, including mood, stress and digestion.
When eating a meal, a person who has an eating disorder the HPA-axis is going
to react differently than someone who has healthy eating behavior. A person who
has an eating disorder may have neurotransmitters sending signals of anxiety,
depression or failure. (“Gale Encyclopedia of Children's Health”)
Media is very influential in the
majority of our lives. Society as a whole shares certain customs and beliefs.
The way we perceive ourselves has a lot to do with media. In the Renaissance
era from the, the ideal beauty was voluptuous. By today’s societal standards,
voluptuous back then might be considered over-weight now. Soon after the
renaissance came the Victorian era, where sexy meant having the smallest waist
possible. The 1960’s and each decade after followed with the thinking-thin
phenomenon was in full force.
It isn’t unreasonable to question if
media causes eating disorders. If one walked in to the nearest grocery store it
would be easy to find at least a few magazines that have an airbrushed beauty
on the front, which looks like she could have a weight of 100 pounds. Any of
those magazines would open up to promise perfection. One could turn on the
television and easily find a commercial that is advertising an “extreme” weight
loss supplement. Society glorifies those women who munch on carrots all day and
are too full to eat dinner. Society glorifies these women and buys the
magazines and the diet pills that promise perfection. So how could anyone say that
media isn’t the cause of eating disorders?
Aside from media there are varieties
of childhood personality traits that are associated with the development of
eating disorders. “During adolescence these traits may
become intensified due to a variety of physiological and cultural influences
such as the hormonal changes associated with puberty, stress related to the
approaching demands of maturity and socio-cultural influences and perceived
expectations, especially in areas that concern body image (New Medical).” When
someone experiences puberty his or her life changes as well as his or her body.
This is difficult for many teens but especially difficult for those with eating
disorders. Many of these traits are highly heritable such as; openness to
experience, extroversion, meticulousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, fear,
novelty seeking, Alexithymia, rigidity frontal lobe, obsession, impulsivity,
and inferior frontal gyrus. (“Gale Encyclopedia of Children's Health”)
Some environmental factors include
child abuse of any sort, an environment that is insufficient according to diet,
isolation, peer pressure, cultural peer pressure, and parental influence. While
the media has an influence on eating disorders, these factors combined leave a
person much more susceptible for an eating disorder. This being said, one who
is diagnosed with an eating disorder is not promised to have all of the previous
symptoms or traits, but is more likely to be associated with the majority of
them than less of them. (“Gale Encyclopedia of Children's Health”)
My personal experience with an
eating disorder further explains the significance of the relationship of
external and internal factors relating to eating disorders. I was diagnosed at
the age of thirteen. I can remember being on several diets until no diet was
good enough. I can’t pinpoint my diagnosis to any one particular cause but I
can relate it to many. As previously mentioned, a family with anxiety disorders
can possibly predispose those in developing an eating disorder. I have a family
of five and two of the five suffer from some kind of anxiety disorder. I was
also diagnosed with depression, which, is related to the neurotransmitter
serotonin and the neurotransmitter epinephrine. Serotonin has an affect on
inhibitory affect on eating behavior and epinephrine as stated above, regulates
the rewarding property of food. As for the personality traits seen in those
with an eating disorder I can easily say most relate to my eating disorder.
Traits like conscientiousness, neuroticism, low self-esteem, perfectionism, and
obsessionality. I am not a meticulous person but I have shown this principled
behavior throughout my recovery. I can remember getting released from the
hospital and having my first meal at home. Right after consuming the meal, I
felt anxious and out of control. I immediately started cleaning. My family soon
learned this was my way of coping with feeling out of control. Neuroticism
relates to the thalamus of the brain and refers to an individual’s tendency to
become upset or emotional. I can always remember having this irate tendency and
believe it to be genetic. As a child I remember my dad working on projects and
if the output was not perfect he would become very upset. And it’s strange how
this genetic trait as well as others affected my sister and me differently. My
sister developed Obsessive Personality Disorder while I developed an eating
disorder. By no means am I saying my eating disorder is my parents’ fault, but
I do believe certain genetic predispositions had great effect on the
development. I do recall media having a small impact on my eating disorder,
regardless it still impacted me. Growing up with two older sisters meant
following in their footsteps. My oldest sister would get fashion magazines to
read as well as my mom. In 7th grade I cared little about who was on
the cover of vogue or people and cared less about who was size two in
Hollywood. But these magazines and advertisements were accustomed to me. Those
magazines were always in my house, and those women became normal to me. When I
saw my mom ripping out diet ads I soon realized that she didn’t look like the
models in the magazine. She wasn’t a size two and looked nothing the women on
the cover of vogue. She wanted to change, and so did I. My mom however, didn’t
develop an eating disorder. I did.
It is hard to deny that culture
standards and media don’t have any affect on eating disorders but media is
certainly not the sole cause. “ If Media caused eating disorders, I think half
the country would have a diagnosable eating disorder (Brown).” As a society we
all “consume” unattainable ideas of beauty and what is attractive. These images
affect everyone as a whole. Women, men, and children are barraged by
advertisements and unrealistic ideals on a daily basis. It’s up to us to
navigate through these unrealistic goals, to know what’s healthy and what
isn’t. Eating disorders don’t affect the entire population but advertisements
do.
Works Cited
"Anorexia
Nervosa." Encyclopedia. Gale Encyclopedia of Children's Health,
n.d.
Web.18 Nov 2012.
This
source is strictly encyclopedia based. It defines what an eating disorder is,
gives demographics, symptoms, and influences. It list the DSM criteria for an
eating disorder, which is necessary for a doctor to consider when diagnosing a
patient with this illness. This source also offers key terms related to eating
disorders and defines them in alphabetical order. This source is helpful by
clarifying a clear and concise definition of what an eating disorder is and
list other terms and criteria that are critical of an eating disorder.
Brown,
Harriet. "Brave Girl Eating." Psychology Today. Psychology
Today
Web. 20 Nov 2012.
This
particular article suggests that media is not the sole cause of eating
disorders. Harriet Brown identifies that eating disorders are, “highly
biologically mediated”. She backs up her
theory by suggesting that if media caused eating disorders than half the country
could be suitably diagnosed. She recognizes that the medias idea of
unattainable beauty does have great affect on society but claims that this
isn’t the cause of eating disorders. The greatest strength in this essay would
be that the author recognizes that media can cause disordered thoughts of one’s
self but isn’t the cause of a serious illness.
Erickson,
Latha. "Body-image pressure inundates teen girls." CNN Health.
CNN Health,
15 2007. Web. 17 Nov 2012.
This
article on body image by Latha Erickson comments on mass media peer pressure,
society, and the father’s role. She cites several sources in this article, one
being the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services studies have found that having a strong father figure
can help boost a girl’s confidence. Latha Erikson frames the father’s role in a
young girls life to be crucial in developing into a confident woman. This
article doesn’t ever mention eating disorders but is important because it
illustrates the power of culture and media.
"What Causes Eating Disorders." News-Medical.
New-Medical.
Web. 17 Nov 2012.
This
article offers a more medical perspective of what actually causes an eating
disorder. The author is able to break down different causes of an eating
disorder ranging from biological, psychological, and environmental. The author
illustrates that some people have had another previous disorder, which
increases their vulnerability or comorbidity of developing an eating disorder.
This article is extremely beneficial in understanding eating disorders. It
recognizes media as an environmental cause but is able to examine more critical
and genetic predisposition influences that are scientifically known to cause an
eating disorder.
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