Chapter 14 The Major Motives of Life: Food, Love, Sex, and work 489of the impossibly thin woman fosters the belief
that “thin is beautiful” and increases the risk of
disordered eating and body dissatisfaction across
all ethnic groups (Grabe, Ward, & Hyde, 2008;
Slevec & Tiggemann, 2011). American culture
is also rife with relentlessly critical and snide ap-
praisals of other people’s bodies that get posted
on blogs, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, and
appear constantly in entertainment magazines and
on talk shows.
Eating disorders and body image distortions
among boys and men are increasing too, though
they take different forms. Just as anorexic women
see their gaunt bodies as being too fat, some men
have the delusion that their muscular bodies are
too puny, so they abuse steroids and exercise or
pump iron compulsively (Thompson & Cafri,
2007). Men in cultures that do not think the heav-
ily muscled male body is desirable or attractive, as
in Taiwan and Kenya, have fewer body image dis-
orders than American men do (Campbell, Pope, &
Filiault, 2005; Yang, Gray, & Pope, 2005).
In sum, within a given environment, genetic
predispositions for a certain body weight and
metabolism interact with psychological needs, cul-
tural norms, and individual habits to shape, in this
case quite literally, who we are.all cases of eating disorders occur among men, the
elderly, ethnic minority groups, young children,
and athletes, and do not fit the diagnostic criteria
for bulimia or anorexia (Thomas, Vartanian, &
Brownell, 2009). People with binge-eating disorder
binge without purging; others chew whatever food
they want but spit it out without swallowing; oth-
ers are normal weight but take no joy in eating
because they worry obsessively about gaining a
pound; some develop phobias about eating certain
kinds of food. All of these disorders involve an un-
healthy attitude toward food, weight, and the body.
Genes play a role in the development of
anorexia nervosa, which has been found across
cultures and throughout history (Striegel-Moore
& Bulik, 2007). But most disorders are gener-
ated by psychological factors, including depres-
sion and anxiety, low self-esteem, perfectionism,
and a distorted body image (Presnell, Bearman, &
Stice, 2004; Sherry & Hall, 2009). Cultural factors
can also generate dissatisfaction with one’s body.
Bulimia is rare to nonexistent in non-Western
cultures and has only become a significant prob-
lem in Western cultures with the rise of the thin
ideal for women (Keel & Klump, 2003). A meta-
analysis of experimental and correlational studies
found that women’s exposure to the media ideal
what is the difference between being slender and being too thin? Does the fashion model on the
left look good to you or does she look emaciated? Likewise, what is the difference between being
“pleasantly plump” and being too fat? Nikki Blonsky, the exuberant star of the movie Hairspray, is
overweight but physically fit. Does she look good to you or does she look too heavy?