A New Kind Of Epidemic - 1476 Words

Jesus G. Chacin Chasity Drew English 1006-003 2 November 2014 A New Kind of Epidemic Globalization has created a strong tendency for young people around the world to follow a series of norms, generally attributed to Western civilizations, seeking to construct this idealized image of what beauty should be. Popular media, intentionally or not, has managed to successfully disseminate all over the globe. The Globalization of Eating Disorders written in 2003 by English professor and feminist philosopher Susan Bordo, makes some strong points that seriously need to be taken into account if we want to identify and subsequently fight to eradicate a variety of psychological problems, which are product from self-image insecurities a person†¦show more content†¦The author attributes this kind of behavior to the presence of a body-image distortion syndrome, as well as other severe perceptual and cognitive problems that normal girls don t have (640). There is no doubt that the purpose of this first example Bordo made up is to appeal to her targeted audience, in order to h elp them understand how serious the effects of popular media can be and how deep they penetrate on the weak mind of an insecure girl. The reading attempts to break a series of stereotypical thoughts society has when it comes to identifying who are the most vulnerable sections of the population that might suffer from any of the problems previously mentioned. The author argues that, although the wide majority of the population would portrait the girl from the first imaginary scenario in their minds as white, North American and economically secure, this is not always the case. In contemplation of proving this theory, Susan Bordo uses more examples, this time realistic and reinforced by facts. The targeted audience, comprised mainly by young adults, is given the example of an African-American girl, named Tenisha, who suffers from the same fears, regarding her physical image. Among other precedents around the world, Bordo points out the cases of Fiji, Central Africa and some Asian countr ies like South Korea,