Harvard speakers suggest media culpable in eating disorders
Updated 12:00 PM ET February 16, 2000
By Jessica Van Sack
The Daily Free Press
Boston U.
(U-WIRE) BOSTON -- Celebrities last night at Harvard University grappled with the media's role in perpetuating eating disorders, blaming them for creating the unrealistic body images that can often lead to eating disorders.
The forum, hosted by the Harvard Eating Disorders Center, presented slide shows, ballet and speakers to spread the word about the affliction's emotional intensity.
Actress Natalie Portman, supermodel Magali and Channel 5 news anchor Dixie Whatley focused on the acting industry's obsession with weight and how what the industry portrays as reality -- computer-enhanced photos and slight bodies on the screen -- skew perceptions of what people should look like. "The media is very guilty of putting forth ridiculously thin images of women," Whatley said. Whatley, who discussed her bouts with starvation and fad diets, said because film makes people look heavier, celebrities are getting thinner.
But as Hollywood bodies shrink, it isn't just the viewers who suffer -- it's the celebrities as well. The media's emphasis on weight hits close to home for Portman, who has been subject to the acting industry's fixation on weight since she was young. Portman recounted the time a director told her he noticed her gaining weight and suggested she diet. At the time, she was 11.
"That was my first encounter with weight issues," Portman said.
Despite on-the-job pressure, she was able to maintain a healthy body image, calling herself, "a naturally thin person."
People shouldn't focus on why performers are so thin, but rather why the industry hires primarily slim people, she said.
Portman cited actress Calista Flockhart as a prime example of people's fixation with weight.
"People shouldn't speculate on whether she has a problem," Portman said. "When you throw accusations like that out at people, it's upsetting. The spotlight should be on why we choose to put think girls on TV -- not why these girls are so thin."
Another way the media obscures public concepts of weight, she said, is by touching up photographs of celebrities.
"Magazines don't represent the true person," Portman said. "They're presenting a created image."
"I have to remember that myself," added Magali, who is a recovering bulimic.
According to Magali, snipping down and touching up celebrity images provides false body concepts no one can live up to, which she said contributed to her eating disorder.
As a touring lecturer on eating disorders, she hopes that discussing her personal struggle with bulimia will raise awareness and eventually quell the number of people suffering from the disease. "Eating disorders are such a taboo," Magali said. Harvard professors Kathryn Sylva and Robin Lasser offered a multimedia presentation of billboards, bus signs and public art they created as part of a campaign to broadcast the plight of people afflicted by eating disorders.
The billboards, designed to show the true severity of the diseases, have slogans such as, "Burning fat. Fear of fat eats us alive," which appear over images of burning flesh.
"It's imagery that highlights the emotional intensity of the eating disorder," Lasser said. The Circles Dance Ensemble, a group of scantily clad female dancers ranging in age from 7 to 92, performed two pieces as a tribute to female expression and confidence.
(C) 2000 The Daily Free Press via U-WIRE
| Comments |
|
