Prompt:ENG 170 Major Assignment-Social Stigmas prompt
Post-Assignment Reflection

When constructing the arguments for this assignment, I realised how important the in depth research was in making my understanding of the argument sturdy. Since I did two smaller assignments in preparation for this one, I felt well versed and had many supporting artifacts to back up my argument. I struggled connecting some of the artifacts that I used in this assignment, but I think that can be remedied with taking more time to choose my resources and tweaking my arguments to fit them better.

I feel really confident in my arguments. I always considered researching a strong suit of mine, so I really enjoyed finding my supporting resources. I also learned that I really like writing argument papers, I think this format works really well for me. Before this assignment, It never stuck out as something i’m good at, but I will use what I learned from the rubric and the preparation in future argumentative essays

 

The Culture of Social Stigmas: Body Dysmorphic Disorder

Andrea Byrne

Body Dysmorphic Disorder, well known as body dysmorphia or BDD, is a very common yet under acknowledged and under diagnosed anxiety disorder affecting about two percent of the population. This disorder is a subcategory of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and according to psychotherapist Paula Cookson, those affected by the disorder are “preoccupied by a perceived flaw in physical appearance and the hyper focus on this perception negatively impacts their quality of life.” (Cookson, 2020) BDD is characterized by body checking (consistently looking at oneself and fixing their appearance through the day), skin picking, unrealistic and excessive desire for plastic surgery, and oftentimes depression and suicidal tendencies.

 

The dangers of this disease lie not only in it’s characteristics, but also within it’s stigmas. There’s a common misconception that most body dysmorphia cases are exaggerations of common insecurities, and young white women take up the majority of the population of those affected by body dysmorphia. In reality, men are almost equally as likely to be affected as women, and people of color are more likely to suffer than caucasian people. Body dysmorphia isn’t taken seriously by most, making it one of the most dangerous psychological disorders; according to psychology professor Katharine A. Phillips, body dysmorphia has one of the highest suicide attempt rates of anxiety disorders, between 24 and 28% (Phillips, 58). Modern media hasn’t played a helpful role in how body dysmorphia has developed in our culture; there are many reasons to believe that the media has actually worsened the perception of this disorder. Tv shows, movies, and websites representing body dysmorphia give a bad name to the disorder and allow unknowingly afflicted viewers to dismiss their symptoms, resulting in an obsessive culture of physical perfection and self hatred to grow stronger.

 

One of the most immediately noticeable misconceptions about body dysmorphia is how it is rarely shown as its own isolated disorder. Despite often coexisting with anxiety and eating disorders, body dysmorphia can be seen in isolation, and should be treated as such, not just like a symptom of an eating disorder. The most readily available examples of body dysmorphia in the media are associated with anorexia and/or bulimia. For example, an episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation called “The Hunger Artist” (Lewis, 2002) features a model, who in a fit of skin picking and excessive grooming mutilates her face and starves herself into sepsis. As gruesome and extreme as this episode was, it took place during a time when there was significantly less education on body dysmorphia, and therefore left its mark on how many viewers perceive BDD. Positively, the show correctly defined body dysmorphia, and features several accurate symptoms of the disorder; negatively, this episode showed an extreme and uncommon side to the disorder that many affected will not experience, especially the attachment of body dysmorphia to weight insecurity and eating disorders. Similarly, The popular Netflix film, To The Bone (Noxon, 2017) was given the platform to educate viewers on the disorder; the film tackles a twenty year old artist with severe anorexia being placed in a specialized care facility, while including symptoms of body dysmorphia within some supporting characters afflicted with the disorder. This movie creates an even bigger problem than the CSI episode because it descriptively blends body dysmorphia with eating disorders, and has the patients affected with body dysmorphia undergoing the same treatment as the patients with eating disorders. Body dysmorphia, as a form of OCD, does not categorize an eating disorder; therefore using the same treatment for eating disorders for someone with body dysmorphia will be completely ineffective or cause more harm.

 

Another very noticeable misconception of body dysmorphia is that it mostly affects women. This partially coincides with the common belief that body dysmorphia is an eating disorder; only 10-15% of diagnosed anorexics and bulimics are male (Ekern, 2015). In addition to this, society deems it more acceptable for women to have insecurities than men, most representation and resources aimed for BDD sufferers are targeted toward women. However, in comparison to the estimated 2.5% of the female population with body dysmorphia, about 2.2% of males are afflicted, which is not a very drastic difference. There is even a subcategory of BDD called Muscle Dysmorphia, where sufferers, the vast majority of which are men, obsess over not being muscular enough. In a research study written by Aaron J. Blashill, men affected by muscle dysmorphia not only have insecurity about their muscle mass, but also find hyper-masculine character traits and behaviors such as “…specifically endorsement of violence, desired promiscuity, emotional restriction/suppression, and heterosexual self-presentation…” (Blashill et al, Aug 2020) to be more desirable. This suggests that the under representation of society accepting men with emotions and vulnerabilities results in these negative behaviors and the lack of diagnosis and treatment for men with this disorder is extremely harmful. 

 

Modern media’s representation of the disorder is lacking in effectiveness, but recent developments in social media do even more harm. Social media apps have managed to not only connect everyone with internet access, but also give everyone insight to the most ideal parts of anyone’s social life, which can spark insecurities about one’s own social life. In addition to this, apps like Snapchat and Instagram, the two most frequented social media apps in 2019, have filtering features, where you can edit your pictures to look as outlandish or realistic as you want. Although there are some intentionally unrealistic filters that are used more for self entertainment, there are certain filters that make subtle changes to the photo or video to making a user look more conventionally attractive. These filters have given way to a subcategory of body dysmorphia called Snapchat Dysmorphia, where the afflicted have the distortion that their filtered image is how they should look, and how they actually look is not attractive. 

 

The surge of cases that have come up in the last few years are evident in cosmetic surgery demands In “Is ‘Snapchat Dysmorphia’ a Real Issue?”, as author Stephanie G. Mejias et al states, “Dr. Yagoda, a plastic surgeon, told the Huffington Post that he had observed many of his clients describing their desired changes, which corresponded to what the filters on (Instagram and Snapchat) could provide” (Mejias,et al, Mar 2018). Some believe this shouldn’t qualify as a subcategory of body dysmorphia because of how common insecurities based on these filters are. However, there is evidence that these “insecurities” are based on psychological distortions, and those who have gone through the aforementioned procedures were discontent with their appearance, and those who were blocked from procedure and given appropriate counseling found they no longer desired the procedures.

 

Social media influencers like the Kardashian-Jenner family exacerbate this problem. The Kardashians have been known to be the center of many controversies and perpetuate numerous social stigmas, but they hold the greatest effect on the self image of their audience. Almost all of the family members, excluding Kourtney, will not admit to having cosmetic surgery (Kapusta, 2020), although there are some very clear indicators that there have been physical alterations made. Several times the entire family has been shown to edit their photos, yet refuse to address these proven claims. They have also been known to advertise questionable products, like hair growth vitamins that include lead and appetite suppressing lollipops (Whittaker, 2018). As individuals, they have the right to do as they please, but as influencers, they have a responsibility to their audience to give them safe and trust-worthy content. Ethically, the entire family has failed to be responsible with their content output, and much of their audience aim to be like them, by any means regardless of physical and psychological safety.

 

In 2017, Kim Kardashian West, the most notorious member of the family, during an episode in season 14 called “The Cleveland Show” admitted that she suffers from Body Dysmorphic Disorder after finding that paparazzi had taken photos of her during a vacation that was supposed to be private. Considering that Kardashian West has been called one of the most beautiful women, scientifically and socially, for years, it was jarring to hear from her. She opens up in an interview, saying, “Why do I subject myself to being seen? Why don’t I just stay at home?” (Kardashian-West, 2017). Ironically, she has been deeply affected by the same beauty standards and social expectations that she helps perpetuate. Unfortunately, Kardashian West and the rest of her family haven’t changed their values very much nor used their platforms to talk about body dysmorphia in more depth, and this influential family continues to produce toxic content.

 

The effects of media and influencers can be seen in the media content that’s being produced by the audience of these social media platforms. These viewers have formed their own smaller communities, where they idolize people with unrealistic appearances on social media and share harmful habits in order to make themselves like their idols in a cultish fashion. A good example of one of these communities would be a Wix site called “The Dainty Club.” This website is a platform that claims to support those struggling with anorexia and bulimia, among other eating disorders. However, through deeper inspection, the website is filled with body shaming rhetoric and scary imagery and content. Users can share their methods of purging and self starvation in blog posts and motivate each other through chat forums. Although this site focuses on eating disorders, the subliminal messaging promoting poor body image and idolization of sickeningly thin figures, when consumed in excess, can be a cause for weight focused body dysmorphia. However, because so many people in these communities aspire to look like a snapchat filter or an edited picture of a celebrity, those who find their way to these spaces find comfort in the illusion of support, which is possibly one of the most dangerous parts of these forums.

 

Media plays a massive role in everyone’s lives in some way or another. As a result of convenient access to technology, we are constantly surrounded by influences of the media through advertisement, entertainment, and lifestyle. This can be very dangerous because of how people present themselves through the media, and the effect it has on an audience’s self esteem. Many would argue that the media doesn’t have enough power over someone to cause body dysmorphia, but numerous studies and claims from famous influencers present arguments that successfully counteract these beliefs. You can see that through easy access photo editing and the misconception that an influencer’s life is perfect based on their profiles has resulted in a distorted self image for millions globally. In addition, the romanticisation and misrepresentation on body dysmorphia that the media puts out on television and websites only perpetuates the dangers of this disorder. Counter measures such as widespread education on body dysmorphia from influencers and body acceptance activism could help combat the growing epidemic of body dysmorphia, but with the economic and social culture built on the misrepresentation of the disorder, there’s no foreseeable future for effective treatment.

 

Works cited

 

  Rieder, Evan. “Approaches to the Cosmetic Patient with Potential Body Dysmorphia.” Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, vol. 73, no. 2, Elsevier Inc, 2015, pp. 304–07, doi:10.1016/j.jaad.2015.04.016.

  Blashill, Aaron J., et al. “Conformity to Masculine Norms and Symptom Severity Among Men Diagnosed with Muscle Dysmorphia Vs. Body Dysmorphic Disorder.” PloS One, vol. 15, no. 8, Public Library of Science, Aug. 2020, pp. e0237651–e0237651, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0237651.

  Ramphul, Kamleshun, and Stephanie G. Mejias. “Is ‘Snapchat Dysmorphia’ a Real Issue?” Curēus (Palo Alto, CA), vol. 10, no. 3, Cureus Inc, Mar. 2018, pp. e2263–e2263, doi:10.7759/cureus.2263.

“The Hunger Artist.” CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Season 2, Episode 23, written by Anthony E. Zuiker and Jerry Stahl, directed by Richard J. Lewis, King World Productions, 2002
Anonymous. The Dainty Club. Wixsite.com, May 8, 2017, https://daintyclub.wixsite.com/daintyclub, Oct 1, 2020

 “Cleveland Show.” Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Season 14, Episode 2, written by Ryan Seacrest and Eliot Goldberg, directed by David Bresenham, NBCUniversal Television Distribution, 2017

To The Bone, directed by Marti Noxon, AMBI Group, 2017

Cookson, Paula. “Body Dysmorphia Myths.” The Recovery Village Drug and Alcohol Rehab, The Recovery Village Drug and Alcohol Rehab, 28 Jan. 2020, www.therecoveryvillage.com/mental-health/body-dysmorphic-disorder/related/bdd-myths/. 

nhs.uk. 2017. Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD). https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/body-dysmorphia/.

Contributor, D., n.d. Common Myths About Body Dysmorphic Disorder – Center For Discovery. Center For Discovery. https://centerfordiscovery.com/blog/common-myths-body-dysmorphic-disorder/.

Practitioners, T., 2015. RACGP – Body Dysmorphic Disorder In Men. Racgp.org.au. https://www.racgp.org.au/afp/2015/november/body-dysmorphic-disorder-in-men.

Ramphul, Kamleshun, and Stephanie G Mejias. “Is ‘Snapchat Dysmorphia’ a Real Issue?” Cureus, Cureus, 3 Mar. 2018, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5933578/. 

“Do I Have BDD?” BDD, International OCD Foundation, 1 Apr. 2019, bdd.iocdf.org/about-bdd/do-i-have-bdd/. 

Aboujaoude, Elias. “Perfectly Beautiful.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 16 Apr. 2013, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/compulsive-acts/201304/perfectly-beautiful. 

Stoppler, Melissa Conrad. “What Is Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD)? Symptoms, Treatment & Causes.” MedicineNet, MedicineNet, 22 Sept. 2009, www.medicinenet.com/body_dysmorphic_disorder/article.htm. 

“Body Dysmorphic Disorder Treatment.” PCH Treatment Center, PCH Treatment Center, 18 Apr. 2019, www.pchtreatment.com/ocd/body-dysmorphic-disorder/. 

Phillips, Katharine A. Suicidality in Body Dysmorphic Disorder. Dec. 2007, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2361388/. 

Ekern, Jacquelin. “Male Eating Disorders: A Snapshot of Statistics and Their Implications.” Eating Disorder Hope, 8 May 2015, www.eatingdisorderhope.com/information/eating-disorder/male-eating-disorders-a-snapshot-of-statistics-and-their-implications. 

Michelle Kapusta More Articles July 12, 2020. “Only 1 Kardashian-Jenner Sister Has Admitted to Having Plastic Surgery.” Showbiz Cheat Sheet, 13 July 2020, www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/only-1-kardashian-jenner-sister-has-admitted-to-having-plastic-surgery.html/. 

Alexandra Whittaker Updated May 16, and Alexandra Whittaker. “Kim Kardashian Is Under Fire for Appetite Suppressant Ad.” InStyle, 16 May 2018, www.instyle.com/news/kim-kardashian-lollipop-appetite-suppressant. 

 

WHOLE Essay map:

1)Media depiction of bdd

  1. Only addressed in its relation to eating disorders
  1. i) Criminal minds
  2. ii) to the bone
  1. Only addressed towards women

i)muscle dysphoria

ii)lack of representation for men with bdd

2)social media’s direct engagement with bdd

  1. Snapchat dysmorphia
  2. Kim Kardashian and her experience

i)Kardashian advocating for unhealthy dieting methods

ii)Kardashian family insists on having no plastic

3) Romanticisation of bdd

  1. The Dainty Club (pro ana/mia sites)
  1. i) includes imagery that glorifies a specific body type and unhealthy habits 

ii)subliminal messaging that encourages negative self image