EATING DISORDERS AND THE CULTURAL FORCES BEHIND THE DRIVE FOR THINNESS - ARE AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMEN REALLY PROTECTED

Responding to mainstream ideals of female beauty, many women and girls view thinness as a requirement for feeling acceptable to themselves a nd to others. The drive to be thin can lead to problematic eating patt erns, such as self-starvation, binge-eating, and purging, symptoms of the eating disorders, anorexia and bulimia nervosa. Most current liter ature on eating disorders and the drive for thinness focuses only on W hite middle-class women and girls. African American females have been largely excluded from studies, due to the assumption that the Black co mmunity's acceptance of women with fuller shapes protects its women fr om eating problems. However, recent studies are beginning to show that race, class, and exposure to a dominant culture which denigrates Blac k features and physiques impact body image among Black women and may p lay a role in the development of eating problems.