Class

Article

College

Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services

Department

English Department

Faculty Mentor

Cree Taylor

Presentation Type

Poster Presentation

Abstract

The rates of eating disorder diagnoses amongst young people in the United States has gradually increased, while beauty standards have gained more prevalence. These beauty standards have become more unrealistic and glorify frail, stick-like bodies. This research aims to discover if there is any correlation between these unhealthy standards and the development and diagnosis of eating disorders. To conduct my research, I used library and internet sources to gather a pool of primary and secondary sources. I used sources by underrepresented scholars concerning different body standards as well as information given by eating disorder clinics to gain a better understanding of how eating disorders manifest and where they come from. After analyzing the data, I learned that eating disorders are most common in Caucasian females between the ages of 12 ad 25.Additionally, most of that data fails to be inclusive minorities, specifically African American and Queer women. Most body standards that are absorbed in the US are heavily influenced by heteronormative, white, cisgender ideals. Having learned this, it leads me to question just how much these body standards contribute to young people’s mental health and their relationships with their bodies and the foods they consume.

Location

Logan, UT

Start Date

4-8-2022 12:00 AM

Share

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Apr 8th, 12:00 AM

Bodies of Beauty

Logan, UT

The rates of eating disorder diagnoses amongst young people in the United States has gradually increased, while beauty standards have gained more prevalence. These beauty standards have become more unrealistic and glorify frail, stick-like bodies. This research aims to discover if there is any correlation between these unhealthy standards and the development and diagnosis of eating disorders. To conduct my research, I used library and internet sources to gather a pool of primary and secondary sources. I used sources by underrepresented scholars concerning different body standards as well as information given by eating disorder clinics to gain a better understanding of how eating disorders manifest and where they come from. After analyzing the data, I learned that eating disorders are most common in Caucasian females between the ages of 12 ad 25.Additionally, most of that data fails to be inclusive minorities, specifically African American and Queer women. Most body standards that are absorbed in the US are heavily influenced by heteronormative, white, cisgender ideals. Having learned this, it leads me to question just how much these body standards contribute to young people’s mental health and their relationships with their bodies and the foods they consume.