Eating Disorders as a Cultural Phenomenon

Eating Disorders and their Cultural Phenomenon

Eating disorders have reached epidemic proportions in recent years. Anorexia nervosa is one of the illnesses mentioned by Treasure, Claudio, and Zucker (2010). (582). Treasure et al. (2010) define the condition as having a low weight, a tendency to be slim, diet restriction, and fear of adding weight (584). The syndrome is most prevalent in young, trained, talented, ambitious, and perfectionist women. From the 13th to the 21st century, more women than men engaged in self-starvation, fasting, and other types of food restriction activities (Gooldin 28). However, during the 18th and 19th centuries, the condition was evident in a small percentage of men who did it for the purpose of art. The performers were called, The Hunger Artists or The Living Skeletons, and they had gained popularity as the art was a medium of entertainment. Today, the art is no more popular, but self-starvation still persists. The culture of self-starvation and fasting has been related to eating disorders, such as Bulimia Nervosa and Anorexia Nervosa. The paper will discuss different eating disorders and the causes why do they occur as a cultural phenomenon.

Eating Disorder

The art of self-starvation has featured in several works of literature, such as A Hunger Artist by Franz Kafka (1922). The short story concerned an event that occurred in an unspecified place and time (Gooldin 47). The writer describes a performing artist who possesses an unusual talent of fasting. However, the artist lives in an era which no longer values his talent unlike the preceding years, where the talent was highly appreciated. He feels that the town now does not appreciate his ability and the nature of his art. Therefore, he is frustrated with himself and the feeling of isolation from the outside world, “People grew familiar with the strange idea that they could be expected, in times like these, to take an interest in a hunger artist, and with this familiarity, the verdict went out against him. He might fast as much as he could, and he did so, but nothing could save him now, people passed him by” (Kafka 4). He derived pleasure and skill of fasting from his willingness to practice self-denial even when onlookers at the circus encouraged him to eat. The artist was seen to have control over his conditions of pain and hunger as he pushed harder past his limits in search of a new record of starvation. In Kafka’s short story, the experience of a hunger artist and his disappearance from the arena was written. The story presented a rare documentation of the hunger artistic display and gave a preview of the atmosphere surrounding the art. The story represents the tragedy and desire of anorexics in a very clear way.

Eating Disorders in Modern Society

In Kafka’s story, he prophesies of eating disorders in future, “Fasting would surely come into fashion again at some future date” (Kafka 3). His prophecy has surely come to pass with a high percentage of people, especially women, been obsessed with dieting. These epidemic proportions have given rise to an increased number of eating disorders, bulimia, and anorexia. In anorexia, the victims have a fear of becoming overweight. This fear in most cases has gone to the extreme such that it persists even when the body weight is 15 percent below the normal weight. To explain the underlying causes of anorexia, several explanations from psychologists have come up. Some suggest that it is the pursuit of perfectionism and control while others explain it as the unleashing of violence against one’s self. Another explanation is that the fear of awakening sexuality plays a role in a woman’s decision to self-starvation. On the other hand is another condition of anorexia, called bulimia (Aminah and Nguyen 272). This disorder has been described as low self-esteem, isolationism, obsessive concern with body proportions, and a strong commitment to please others at the expense of one’s body. Disorders, anorexia, and bulimia, have attracted attention from different avenues. Women form the largest number of victims of these disorders and women activists, nutritionists, and medical practitioners have turned their attention to help solve it. However, this help has not yielded the best results since most victims suffer in secrecy. Most victims of anorexia and bulimia feel isolated and shame and therefore they cannot speak out to the professionals in regard to their illnesses.

Implications and Conclusion

In regard to these eating disorders, Kafka’s short story gave light for a sociological attention to modern-day self-starvation. The Hunger Artist presents the ways of fasting and the other forms of self-denial. From the story, A Hunger Artist, one is able to analyze the relations between the concepts, categories, and status of anorexia as a totally psychological occurrence. Both the anorexic and the bulimic are able to reduce their calorie intake to a level that will reach the degree of thinness that is regarded as desirable at the moment. For the anorexic, they are capable of reaching the level through refraining from eating while the bulimic eat as much as they please, and then vomiting the food. The anorexic has an appetite similar to the normal person, and they ready to eat because of their hunger. However, they cannot eat since they believe that once they take a meal, they would not be able to stop eating and therefore turn to become bulimic. These individuals tend to have a tremendous energy in everything they undertake, as it helps to take their mind away from the desire to eat and also helps them lose weight. The bulimic and anorexic people show violence against their body, which makes the essence of the hunger artist’s form of expression.

Conclusion

The culture of self-starvation and fasting has therefore led to bulimia and anorexia. Kafka’s short story can be read as a moral teaching on these eating disorders. The story acts as a warning to the present-day obsession with food and dieting. Kafka’s short story has profound cultural, psychological, and feminist implications and they help bulimic and anorexic become aware of the violent forces against their bodies and spirit. The behavior of the hunger artist is similar to people with anorexia and bulimia, especially in parts where the artist has a need to remain in control while simultaneously showing the behavior of been out of control, the effort to preserve the illusion of self-sufficiency while regressing to a state of total infantilism, and the pursuit for perfectionism while feeling hopelessly imperfect. Eating disorders are caused by people’s uncontrollable desire to lose weight and most people experience at least a minor version of the various eating disorders. Therefore, we need to understand the symptoms of eating disorders as described by specialists and observe our own eating behavior. The other forms of maintaining weight should be applied without getting involved in practices that endanger one’s health or destroy self-respect. The exercises such as walking, jogging, swimming, running, bicycling, mountain climbing, jumping, and other physical activities should be considered as the ways of eliminating unwanted calories.

Works Cited

Gooldin, Sebastian. “Fasting Women, Living Skeletons, and Hunger Artists: Spectacles of Body and Miracles at the Turn of a Century.” Body and Society, no. 9, 2003, pp. 27-54.

Aminah, Jatoi, and Phuong L. Nguyen. “Anorexia.” American Journal of Cancer, no. 1, 2006, pp. 269-275.

Kafka, Franz. Hunger Artist. Wildside Press, 2016.

Treasure, Jack, Claudino, Angelica M., and Nathan Zucker. “Eating Disorders.” The Lancet, vol. 375, 2010, pp. 583-593.