by Nancy Boland

Created on: July 08, 2009

Media Machines

Are media outlets really to blame for the onslaught of waif like women? Or are we all becoming media robots?

The patient was a feeble woman, well under 100 pounds, but in the severity of her disorder and distress she looked smaller still. She stooped forward in the robust armchair that smothered her in size, sniffing haphazardly, head bowed, twisting a frayed tissue between her delicate fingertips. In the adjacent chair sat her mother, looking drained, absently staring out the window. She spoke quietly of actions so heartbreaking, her composure threatened to falter. When she described how her daughter had behaved after she was first diagnosed, she spoke with understanding. A thousand images of torment flashed before her eyes. She was virtually bones; she remembered, her eyes glazed, body shaking, intertwined in some incomprehensible secret suffering.

The diagnosis was anorexia nervosa. No major facts were challenged. The teenager was a friendly girl, a conscientious student and an active, healthy young woman until one day last summer - weighed down with pressure from school and temperamental friendships; she developed an unhealthy relationship with food at the risk of her own wellbeing. The young woman slowly deteriorated, consumed by a media diet, in particular celebrity magazines, at an already sensitive and vulnerable period in her life.

It is an unavoidable aspect of modern, Western culture. But is it to blame?

Two decades ago, this was relatively rare according to studies completed by the National Health Service. But in the early 1990s, a media revolution imposed itself upon millions of unsuspecting young teenagers. Its tactical approach included a combination of mixed messages, coupled with a surplus of contradictory images. Its result may not have been the most significant, compelling contribution to those already susceptible to a disease as debilitating as an eating disorder, but it has more than likely played its part.

What kind of person gets drawn in?

The wealthy do, according to the National Institute of Health. And the poor, and the middle class. Women of all ages and ethnicities. Men are just as susceptible as women. There seems to be no restriction, no barrier. An already low self esteem is usually present. Sometimes images of ideal body - image, the picture of perfection can hit an already tender note. It happens to the university educated and the marginally literate. In the last four years it has happened to a lawyer.

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