The Weight of Our Culture

An Analysis Of Sociocultural Factors that Influence Eating Disorders

By: Alisha Rai

Illustration: Kainaaz Chothia

In a world bursting at the seams with various rich cultures and countless nations, the correlation between cultural factors and eating disorders remains a complex and often discounted issue. Behind the seemingly universal problem with body image shaped by societal pressures, cultural reforms add more weight to our generation’s shoulders.

Growing up in a society where Westernized beauty standards are expected of us by our peers and traditional body standards are envisioned for us by our families, it is inevitable to fall prey to body dissatisfaction, which could lead to unsupervised and meticulous diets, followed by eating disorders.

As women fought for greater independence and equality, the suffrage movement gained significant importance in America; their bodies and how they were perceived in society became a focal point. Thinness became synonymous with femininity, believed to reflect qualities of fragility, delicacy, and the need for protection.

This was followed by immense exposure to popular Western media, which has changed the perception of body image, especially in Asian and Pacific Islander cultures and specifically among younger females. Western body ideals have formed in the way that they have because of American industries such as beauty, diet, and fashion. This shift was seen in the 20th century when mass media and fashion began to idolise thinness as the beauty standard by promoting skinnier models in magazines, television, and social media platforms. This became a rage and allowed the diet and beauty industries to capitalize on the masses by promoting the idea to capitalise on the masses idea of having a thinner, sleeker body, thus increasing consumer demand for products that could help one attain “the perfect body” and making people scared to gain weight, which could possibly be one of the most prevalent causes of the similarities in the onset of eating disorders.

Beauty standards before Western media differed according to the region. An infamous region known for its discrete and yet, lopsided beauty standards is East Asia, with an age-long preference for a petite body type, which emphasizes the sociocultural idea of femininity. Confucianism also had a heavy influence, not only on the archetypal body but also on the way women dress. It highly emphasized hierarchy, so a modest dressing sense and adhering to societal norms were highly valued. Studies further state a “non-fatphobic” type of anorexia nervosa seen in Hong Kong, where restricting food intake in this group is more likely to cause physical problems like bloating, pain, and loss of appetite rather than concerns about body fat. These atypical characteristics have been observed in bulimia nervosa cases from India as well.

If we specifically look at the body standards for men in India as well, we’ll notice how masculinity has always been synonymous with physical strength, power, and virility in Indian culture, as men were traditionally assigned the duties of guardians, providers, and warriors in traditional societies.

Masculine figures in historical and mythological texts are frequently depicted as muscular, sturdy, and physically domineering. Diving further into history, we’ll also notice a preference for fuller hips in women as they are seen as a gift for child-bearing. This is seen in Latin American cultures where women with hourglass figures appear more appealing, the same goes for African American communities where a larger body size is preferred.

During the Renaissance period in Italy, artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Botticelli often depicted women with belly rolls, fuller breasts, and hips, as there was an overall preference for buxom figures in women in opposition to what the 21st century idolizes. Ancient Greece had a tendency to sculpt or paint men with defined brawn, making them seem godly and powerful. Such heavy expectations of both men and women’s bodies all over the world can exert pressure to conform to these unrealistic standards and can even trigger low self-esteem due to external shaming, especially among peers.

While socio-cultural factors can definitely be trigger points for disordered eating, many factors should also be considered to approach eating disorders from a holistic perspective. As a society, we should understand that not everyone has to look identical; individuality is what makes us ourselves.