ABSTRACT
In ordinary discourse, but also in medical settings (see the next section of this chapter), eating disorders are often related to the pressure from the media to be thin. The argument is that the wide use of super-thin models inculcates the wrong ideals of beauty and wrong ideas of what it is to be normal. In the attempt to mimic the idolized models of beauty, young women – so the argument goes – begin to diet, and then are unable to stop. Many people believe that there is something pernicious in the idea that, in order to be beautiful, a person needs to be very thin and/or strong, toned, smooth and statuesque. This chapter assesses the soundness of these claims. It addresses the question of whether the pressure operated by the media can be responsible for eating disorders, and, if so, in what way.
