A Socio-Cultural Perspective of our Dining Tables.
EAT IT.
SOCIETY, CULTURE AND OUR DINING TABLES.
On May, of year 2018, I first noticed Jameela Jamil
and her thunderous tweets coupled with powerful writing against the
Kardarshians. She thundered them down, quite literally, over radio waves on a
podcast. Her criticism was bold and sharp; she wasn’t shying away from stating
the problem the Kardarshains were perpetuating- and this wasn’t their own
selves, but the ideas they were selling.
As Jamil said- “You’re selling
us self-consciousness. The same poison that made you clearly develop some sort
of body dysmorphic or facial dysmorphic, you are now pouring back into the
world."
The next year Jamil moved even more swiftly,
and significantly in her fight. She started a campaign, and raised voices. The
entertainment industry, otherwise quite vocal, was mostly, deafeningly mum
about the core perpetrators of the ideology. Jamil’s campaign was garnering not
just eyeballs but generating interest.
Her campaign- body image. But she asked of
people to tap deeper.
Well, sitting right there on our plates,
staring at our faces are Eating Disorders. We know of the toll it takes on our
heads, on our biological systems, on the nervous systems and vice versa. But a
new contender, and perhaps a strong contender- the only player in this game is
the societal factors and its pressures that we are subject to. A short story
time, if I may-
My best friend and me, lie on two variable
extremes when it comes to body, its weight and types. She is someone, who falls
on the thin line of the rope. You may have ‘figured’ where I fall by now. In
eighth grade, I remember her fervently downing some supplements. And then, in
every lunch break, these “food items” to increase her size began. Equally
suddenly, her appetite fell after sometime. From stuffing her face, she went to
avoiding a morsel. This cycle would continue. This grew into her, in twelfth
grade, walking out of her house for making her way to school and eventually not
going and taking time off, because our economics teacher/her mother/our van
“uncle” had commented something about her weight or how she looked the day
before. Even on a call yesterday, she mentioned fleetingly about not eating
adequately. A week back, she had severe hunger pangs wherein she ate double the
amount.
What resulted and why it resulted was thanks
to the societal pressures of body image, and subsequently, of what eating is
supposed to be like. Certain
important sociocultural variables like familial interaction patterns, parental
attitude towards weight control, desirability for slimness and thinness also
have a deciding role. Stress of any kind can act as a precipitating factor.
An often ignored factor and
pattern, in the case of eating disorders, as a societal factor is the role of
parents. First point of reference, cheerleaders, identity constructers.
Parental attitudes at home is of immense importance towards any development. In
a lot of families, parents carry a negative outlook towards their child’s body
type. This has been especially noticed in cases of anorexia nervousa. Daughter/
daughters constantly ridiculed for excessive weight, for not looking “right”
enough etc. this results in the child starving herself/ themselves. Avoiding social
situations. And frankly just puts you at risk of other disorders. Young people who
develop eating disorders often have a close but troubled relationship with
their parents. Although this is common in the teen years, a person who is at
high risk for developing an eating disorder will take concerns over parental
relationship problems to an extreme. The child may be afraid of disappointing
his or her parents or may be trying to control an unspoken conflict or lack of
harmony within the family.
As the media
plummets us with images, of perfection, of a society whose beauty standards are
frankly more disordered- it goes from a thin to “full”, from the need for
“slim” to slim but a “curvier” woman, the curve is more than abhorring,
disappointing. It is a toxic circle. Of pleasers. And propagators. The screens
have blinded us to reality and biology.
Eating disorders occur most often in industrialized cultures where there is an
emphasis on thinness, especially if thinness is linked to success. Magazines,
television, and other media have created an unrealistic image of the perfect,
successful person.
If anything has decried and pushed women to
the edge, it has often been the screens. Social media has added to the
artificial sense of the looks of the world. And while there is campaigning,
there is yet to be some fruitful change when the world’s icons somehow change with
the trends and not the trend itself. A cause of concern that rises from this is
how EASILY available laxatives and “supplements are”. Let alone available, they
are endorsed by celebrity figures too. The reach of these products is massive
and scary.
The road to
recovery is difficult, but possible. With help of the right kind. Group therapies
with families- parents are being taught acceptance, children acceptance of
selves. Different methods of therapies.
There is also the
need for systemic change. Have courses introduced in schools- teach sensitivity. have counsellors deal and talk of these issues, first at hand. And this too comes with acceptance, and change from
the grass roots . So while Jameela campaigns, we must campaign too. At homes. In
front of authoritative parents. Nosy relatives. And more importantly, worried children.
R Chaddha, S Malhotra, AG ASAD, and P Bambery. SOCIO-CULTURAL FACTORS IN ANOREXIA NERVOSA. Indian J Psychiatry. 1987 Apr-Jun; 29(2): 107–111.
Socio-cultural theory is perhaps the longest standing approach in explaining eating disorders, precisely because societal pressure whether from family, friends etc is highly influential in shaping their body image. As mentioned in the blog systematic changes in within institutions like that of school can certainly bring about long-term positive effects. The blog has been written creatively with a flow in the presentation of information.
ReplyDeleteMerin Mary Chacko 1830240
ReplyDeleteThe socio-cultural perspective looks at how societal standards and norms regarding body image have an impact on individuals on the idea of self. Understanding such norms is important as individuals are in contact with such norms on a daily basis and understanding these can help the individual tackle them head on rather than succumbing to them. This post uses personal accounts of the author regarding such standards and involve comments made by prominent celebrities like Jameela Jamil against such issues, which is absolutely creative of the author. This helps in providing a relatability aspect to the post, though I wish the topics in the post were clearly demarcated using proper headings.