How feminism can help cure anorexia

FEMINIST theory could be used to treat anorexia, a study has suggested.

Academics at the University of East Anglia found that patients who discussed societal oppression found it useful in coping with their condition.

The 10-week programme, which was carried out with seven patients at a treatment centre in Norwich, used TV adverts, Disney films, news articles and social media to spark debate about anorexia and women’s bodies.

Topics for discussion included “gendered constructions of appetite” and “cultural prescriptions of femininity”.

Patients found the approach useful because it made them feel less like they were to blame for their condition, the study said.

It concluded that the research “offers some support for the idea that focusing on broader gendered discourses… might be productive for participants in thinking about how often unquestioned (and potentially more ‘invisible’) gender inequities may shape the aetiology and maintenance of an eating disorder”.