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Sep 8

Why are Women More Susceptible to Eating Disorders?

Written by Rian Chase

Edited by Anika Varma


One truth about me is quite plain and simple: I love being a girl. I love to wear makeup and cute outfits, go out on fun little dates with my friends, and gush over my celebrity crushes, (Joe Burrow is the most recent, in case you were wondering). Not that all of these things are what make you a girl, but they’re some of my favorite parts of being one. However, I think that America Ferrera as Gloria in The Barbie Movie said it best, that “it’s impossible to be a woman.” 


All of this being said, it’s no surprise that women are twice as susceptible to eating disorders as men. Because of the societal pressure that they are under, women are more likely to be deeply dissatisfied with their body shape if it doesn’t adhere to borderline unhealthy and impossible standards. As a woman, you are constantly held to crushing and impossible standards. In society, we have a cultural phenomenon of creating the ideal of a supposedly perfect body and promoting obtaining this, no matter what it takes. As an unspoken rule, you must have society’s idea of a “perfect” body. If you don’t, you’ll be berated and deemed unworthy of respect.


We, as women, are expected to conform to a culture of hatred, stereotypes, and hypocrisy. According to the CAMFT, women face higher stressors and risks of lower mental health due to the burdens that society has placed on them, such as being constantly expected to be gentle and kind, to be feminine, and to have a petite figure. The unequal status between men and women in today’s society creates feelings of depression, anxiety, and low self-worth in women. Because of the societal pressure that they are under, women are plainly more likely to be deeply dissatisfied with their body shape if it doesn’t adhere to borderline unhealthy and impossible standards. Women are very commonly objectified and sexualized, which has been proven to lead to an unhealthy and unstable relationship between a woman and the way that her body looks. Women are pressured, often from a very young age, to appear slim. Eating disorders, especially anorexia and bulimia, have been devastatingly common diagnoses in young girls and women. Cultures all across the world have led to a deep fear in women of being labeled as “fat,” therefore making many women feel as though they have no choice but to resort to deadly and dangerous methods of dieting to avoid this label.  


Throughout their lives, millions of American women have been subject to eating disorders. Eating disorders can take many different forms, such as Anorexia, during which a person has an intense fear of eating, and strategically limits their food intake to as little as nothing, or Bulimia, where a person tends to binge eat during a breakdown and then force themselves to throw up any food that was consumed. According to the National Eating Disorders Organization, many of those suffering from eating disorders often are simultaneously suffering from depression, anxiety, or instability. Furthermore, the overwhelming majority of women feel judged solely based on their looks. Over time, women have been taught that rather than kindness, intelligence, or humor–looks–above all, are what earn respect from peers. We have been subjected to a brutal beauty standard that demeans our personalities to judge people based on their bodies According to Utah State University, women are subjected to images of perfection in the media, which usually consist of beautiful models with perfectly clear skin, white teeth, and delicate skinny bodies, our perspectives of our bodies are warped. Women feel the need to give into society's unrealistic “ideal” standards, which ultimately leads to deep feelings of dissatisfaction and worthlessness. I think that it is truly a tragedy that women feel the need to starve themselves to death to earn respect from others. If you are a woman reading this, I want you to know that you are perfect just the way that you are and that you, no matter your body shape, or society’s unrealistic expectations, should look in the mirror and love what you see.


Works Cited

California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT). “Statement on the

Detrimental Impacts of Misogyny on Mental Health.” CAMFT, 29 Aug. 2022, https://www.camft.org/Membership/About-Us/Social-Policy-and-Public-Statements/Detrimental-Impacts-of-Misogyny-on-Mental-Health. Accessed 30 June 2024.

“Eating Disorder Statistics.” National Eating Disorders Association, National Eating

Gender Stereotypes and Their Effect on Young People, Institute of Physics,

Bunnell, Douglas W. "Eating Disorders: Why Are Girls More Affected?" Child Mind Institute,

Whiteman, Honor. "Why are some women more vulnerable to eating disorders?" Medical

“Women’s Increased Risk of Depression.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical

Education and Research, 29 Jan. 2019, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/depression/in-depth/depression/art-20047725. Accessed 1 July 2024.

Woodbury, Susannah, and Emma Parkhurst. “How Body Image Affects Mental Health |

USU.” USU Extension, 15 November 2021, https://extension.usu.edu/mentalhealth/articles/how-body-image-affects-mental-health. Accessed 30 June 2024.

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