Could anorexia in girls be triggered by fear of becoming a woman? Or could it be linked to a domineering grandmother, an abusive father, pictures of skinny supermodels, wrong dieting habits, television soap operas, insane parents, depression, shopping, modern living, or even something in the water supply? Eating disorders are a growing epidemic grossly affecting females and the answer of "why" remains unrevealed. From anorexia nervosa to bulimia nervosa, females experience pressures that can inevitably force them to question their body and to change their figure. Anorexia and bulimia have similarities in that anorexia people do not eat enough while bulimic people engage in binges followed by vomiting. Scholars are analyzing eating disorder cases and are working to find the reasons behind them. Becky Thomson, author of "A Way Outa No Way," addresses eating disorders from a novel perspective; she attempts to destroy the view that eating disorders solely affect white, upper-class women by recognizing how the disorder is case-specific. Over the last one hundred years, scholars have developed theories of the causes of eating disorders, primarily focusing on the social pressures behind the disorder. However, various intricate causes exist that are often overlooked, thus showing the individuality of each case. Cases by case, eating disorders have their own story, cause and distinctiveness that cannot be compared to another case.
All over the world, eating disorders are a caused by a false perception of the perfect body image created by society, traumatic events such as sexual abuse, as a person's genetic makeup. Over the last hundred years, eating disorders have brought about many theories that have been disproved or discarded, thus showing the individuality of each case.
The easiest industry to blame for causing women to have a false perception of body image is the mass media. Western images of supermodels impose images of the flawless body; every girl's dream body is a 24 waist size, long legs and rock hard abs.