Professor: Eating disorders increasing cross racial lines

Anorexia isn't just a curse of affluent white women in modern America, a Kentucky professor said yesterday.

A crowd composed mostly of women gathered in Logan Hall to hear Susan Bordo - a professor of English and gender studies at the University of Kentucky - speak about the changing face of eating disorders.

"Eating disorders are spreading across race, class and gender borders," Bordo said.

Bordo said that influential celebrities like Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez and Serena Williams promote a voluptuous and seemingly healthy body image that contributes to "exercise obsession," which may "appear to be invisible," but is just as hazardous as an anorexic mindset.

This new standard is equally unachievable, promoting "never-good-enough thinking," Bordo said.

Bordo added that even her seven-year old daughter has been affected by this way of thinking and has shown her "what she wants her stomach to look like."

There is an "addiction to perfection," and "we cannot let our culture off the hook," Bordo repeatedly warned.

According to her, consumers do not realize that the media are selling an ideal, not just a picture.

The media "casts an allure of being accepted by the dominant culture," Bordo said, giving the example: "I want to have a boyfriend, be loved, admired, and this is a prescription for it."

Furthermore, she contended that for an obesity epidemic to sweep the country as eating disorders gained ground is not as paradoxical as it may seem.

Bordo said she believes that our culture breeds obsessions, excesses and extremes.

"There is a tug of war between radically different messages," Bordo said. "It is the 'let go' verses the gym, toilet bowl and crash diet."

Students in the audience said they believe body image is an important issue to explore.

"I think it's about time we explore body images through different perspectives," College freshman Brandi Waters said. "It's humbling to see how much we allow the media to determine what we see as the standard."

College freshman Janday Wilson said that she used to not realize that eating disorders affect such a range of demographics

"I have African-American friends who have had eating disorders," Wilson said. "I was surprised when I found out. I didn't think it was an issue."

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