WSC

Amanda Sullivan's blog for WSC 2013

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Research Results

For my research, I posted an online survey to my house page and I asked local people around my home in California 4 simple questions: 1. Name 2. Age 3. What has influenced their body image the most: media, friends, family, other, or all 4. Is there something that they would change about themselves (yes/no) I expected swayed results, since I included both males and females. However, since the average age surveyed for both sexes was 18, the results were similar. Almost an equal amount of individuals answered either yes or no to question 4. The influence of media, family, and friends on body image were almost evenly spread as the body modification question. Theses results were pretty inconclusive, but it did reveal that older-aged individuals wanted to change more about themselves.

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Literature Review

My apologies! I did not realize this was posted to my other Tumblr account.

   With this project, I was able to discover that printed materials were much more informative than online resources.There was a plethora of books pertaining to eating disorders, the psychology behind them, and their results, but often these books were clumsy and contained hundreds of pages of well meaning -but tedious- information. Rather than weigh myself down with reading and distract myself from the true purpose of the project, I decided to read sections of these materials that sparked my interest.

   The most helpful source was a short book titled Am I Thin Enough Yet?: The Cult of Thinness and the Commercialization of Identity. The cover drew me in with its tape measures and the blurb on the back caught my interest. Sharlene Hesse-Biber attempts to avoid the traditional psychology of eating disorders that I had read in several other books. Rather, she highlights how young women's (and sometimes men's) self-confidence is undermined to understand beauty as thinness. This is what lead me to include men in my study as well. She also bravely reviews stories of women who are and were battling eating disorders -- a realm that most authors would not dare to enter.

   Both lengthy prints of The Psychology of Eating: From Healthy to Disordered Behavior and Psychodynamic Technique in the Treatment of the Eating Disorders provided solid background in the psychology of eating disorder development. These sources allowed me to understand the definition of an eating disorder and the idea of my project. Once I had acquired these texts, I decided to try my luck at the online databases. A website from the United States Department of Health and Human Services gave facts about eating disorders and their commonalities; these facts would be a wonderful addition to any research, if the article had not been taken down a few days following my discovery. 

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Research Ideas

Eating disorders and distorted thoughts about food consumption are prevalent across the United States, but they are not openly discussed. This makes any type of research difficult to conduct. Though difficult still, a related topic to search would be negative and positive body image. This relates to the topic because eating disorders begin with a negative body image and then progress into a serious issue. One possible method of conducting research would be a poll. Since women of adolescent to middle adulthood age are the focus of my topic, I would ask, through the internet, simple questions such as their age, whether they were raised in an environment with positive body talk, and if they are satisfied with their current weight/body. This will allow me to see how women truly view themselves and if the way they were raised affected their body image.

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Psychodynamic Technique in the Treatment of the Eating Disorders

Wilson, C. Philip., Charles C. Hogan, and Ira L. Mintz. Psychodynamic Technique in the Treatment of the Eating Disorders. Northvale, NJ: J. Aronson, 1992. Print.

This source was chosen because of its differing view of eating disorders than other texts. Most texts simply focus on the development and different types of disordered eating; Psychodynamic Technique in the Treatment of the Eating Disorders illuminates the treatment of eating disorders through identification of internal conflicts that caused them. This book also reviews the psychological disorders that arise with the development of an eating disorder. This will be beneficial to my research because I hope to look int eating disorders beyond the general information presented in most texts. 

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The Psychology of Eating

Ogden, Jane. The Psychology of Eating: From Healthy to Disordered Behavior. Chichester, West Sussex, U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell, 2003. Print.

Mental processes are the most essential keys to understanding eating disorders. In the book The Psychology of Eating: from Healthy to Disordered Behavior, Jane Ogden looks directly into the mind of our diet culture. It follows the ideas of why Americans eat what they do and why weight has become a large concern over the past couple decades. This will be essential to my research because I intend to look into the thought processes that develop into eating disorders. Also, Ogden analyzes the diet industry and the consequences of dieting, which will provide a new prospective into the development of eating disorders.

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Bibliography

Hesse-Biber, Sharlene. Am I Thin Enough Yet?: The Cult of Thinness and the Commercialization of Identity. New York: Oxford UP, 1997. Print.

Ogden, Jane. The Psychology of Eating: From Healthy to Disordered Behavior. Chichester, West Sussex, U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell, 2003. Print.

Sproch, Laura. The Effect of Self-focused Attention on Female Body Dissatisfaction in Subclinical Anorexia Nervosa and Subclinical Binge Eating Disorder. Thesis. Hofstra University, 2010. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

United States Dept. of Health and Human Services. "Eating Disorders." 4women.gov. Office for Women's Health, 22 Oct. 2000. Web. <http://www.4woman.gov/owh/pub/factsheets/eatingdis.htm>.

Wilson, C. Philip., Charles C. Hogan, and Ira L. Mintz. Psychodynamic Technique in the Treatment of the Eating Disorders. Northvale, NJ: J. Aronson, 1992. Print.

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A Glance Into Eating Disorders

http://amandathecaligirl.wordpress.com/

The first article I chose was "Dieting Can Lead To Eating Disorders" by James Smith for Medical News Today Online. This is clearly relevant to the premise of my project, but I decided to use it because it provides a summary of what i hope to discover. Smith reports that an astonishing 80 percent of women in the United States (men may also develop eating disorders but at a less extreme rate) are dissatisfied with their appearance; 89 percent wish to loose weight. How these numbers became so extreme is not touched upon in this article, however he explains what constitutes an eating disorder. Disorders begin hen eating or calorie intake becomes too restrictive, episodes of binge eating occur with restrictive eating, or purging occurs after meals. The key to maintaining a healthy weight, according to registered dietitian Juliet Zuercher, is to eat only when hungry and to eat a balance and variety of foods. 

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From Diet to Disorder: Revised

If we can't understand how disordered eating alters an individual's mentality, then we can't understand how simple body-consciousness or diets become eating disorders. If we can't understand how these body or weight issues become eating disorders, then we can't comprehend how to reduce body-consciousness in adolescence to middle adulthood or how to change the idea that individuals with eating disorders are "attention-seekers." 

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From Diet to Disorder

Growing up in what seemed to be the body conscious capital of the country, Southern California, exposed me to a constant badgering of imperfection complaints. My family regularly spoke about weight, my friends complained daily about their auto-unhappiness, and, of course, the media always pictured perfection as a tall, thin, slightly fit model or actress. But what if we're not all the "toned, tan, fit" California Girls that Snoop Dog spoke of? This is where my interest of body consciousness stems from. How did our society develop an notion of beauty based on weight and how did everyone become so absorbed in the idea of becoming thin? Most people in early to late adulthood can relate to this idea, because it seems as though everyone has a friend who is constantly on a diet or trying to alter their body. Sure individuals can easily identify something they dislike about themselves, but at some point these weight related unhappiness issues become extreme. This sparks interest: how does a diet obsession become an eating disorder and how will will we know the difference? Readers will travel on a journey as I attempt to answer this question. I'm also attempting to surpass the stereotypes of disordered individuals as "attention-seekers"-a response I received when I asked a number of my peers what they thought about individuals with eating disorders. Readers will learn to think "How can I prevent weight obsession in the people I interact with?" rather than scoffing or pitying.

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The Happiness Question.

Happiness is a abstract idea with a true definition that eludes us all. Every person thinks of happy as something different. McCloskey views happiness as a certain food as well as the events leading up to it. She relates this concept to economics; the idea of happiness was presented on a scale in order to rate how happy an individual truly was. This idea may work, but again, everyone is different and levels would differ from person to person for the same experience. Brunker introduces a joy through suffering. A confusing idea which simply means that we can only find happiness when suffering is absent. To me, pain is absent when you do something you love and your mind is focused on nothing but the current action. This event produces true bliss. Happiness would be in California, relaxing on my couch and talking to my mother about my day, but it is also the look on the babies’ faces at work when they get to hobble about the falling leaves. McCloskey is correct in her definition because joy can be a series of events, but Bruckner is also true in her idea that it comes when suffering leaves the mind.

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"The Art of Suffering"

In the essay "The Art of Suffering," Pascal Bruckner introduces the idea that humans are inherently unhappy because they are constantly striving for perfection, which, in their eyes, is true happiness. He introduces this idea with a paradox stating “Our societies have never talked so much about suffering as they have since becoming exclusively concerned with happiness” (13). When this idealistic switch occurred is unknown, but it most likely happened with the development of materialism. Nowadays, people are always wanting. They want more items, more emotion, and more happiness. Bruckner explains this with his statement, “Because the modest expectations typical of former times have given way to rising desires, we live in a state of constant aspiration” (44). This best describes the paradox because it explains how people are attempting to find happiness. If everyone is constantly aspiring for what they think will truly make them happy, they begin to focus on what they don't have. Bruckner attempts to explain that with everyday positivity comes happiness.

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Universities as Commercial Businesses

Most entering undergraduate students had to arrive at a painful conclusion before selecting a higher learning institution to attend: college is extremely expensive. Affordability is a now major driving force in student college selection. Hofstra University scholars must justify the near 60,000 dollar decision each year, though financial aid and scholarships dramatically lessen the burden. The great amount of money poured into universities is, in theory, used for the progression of these institutions and greater opportunities for their students. Other commercialization techniques include advertisement of school logos and sponsorship of events. This commercialization approach became prevalent in the 1980s, when universities began to entice students with the promise of higher education, development, and advice for a large payment (Bok 10). The opportunities provided for students are constantly increasing, driving up the cost of college itself. Hofstra has become a site of commercialization, sending out free applications and bragging its location in proximity to New York City in order gain students and the financial means to send them into the city. Though most universities have turned to such tactics, their focus on increased education remains prominent. 

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"Imagining College Without Grades"

The education system relies heavily on grades; from pre-school to college graduation day, students are taught that the highest grades belong to the hard-working and most intelligent beings.

This theory may not always be correct. Excellent school performance is becoming a commonality, but may not imply increased student learning. The article "Imagining Colleges Without Grades" by Scott Jaschik relays ideas to alter the traditional grading system that were presented during the annual meeting of the Association of American Colleges and Universities. Evaluations and portfolios may be an alternative to the traditional scales, though they still present complicated issues such as training professionals to understand and utilize these options. It would take years to complete the transition away from grades in college, but it will take even longer for conventional students to adjust to the new systems. 

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"Our Underachieving Colleges" Response for September 9th

Bok illustrates the interest in vocationally centered course work versus ethically based work throughout time. With a religious dimension existing before the Civil War, most institutions relied on reflective and ethical work to allow students to ally with the church while gaining a mental discipline. With a decline in registration and unhappy faculty, reform was necessary. German modeled vocational education began following the Civil War. With a business-centered education came freedom. Students viewed a fifty percent increase of electives in their schedules. Years later, a mixture of breadth and depth occurred, allowing a balance of major focus and electives. Bok returns to the idea that tension still exists between the dual forms of work, but the mixtures does not signify an improvement in the higher education system.