New book „Eating Disorders in a Capitalist Society: Super Woman or a Super Failure“, by the author Ph.D. Jelene Balabanić Mavrović deals with the sociological perspective of eating disorders in today's modern world, and the influence of gender roles in shaping attitudes towards the body and food. The book was created on the basis of research conducted a few years ago with young women who had experience of eating disorders, and provides a unique insight into the intimate world of sufferers. The perfectionist expectations that girls are exposed to today, from the imperative of success in school, a top career, a perfect appearance and an idyllic family life, put them in a position to feel that they are "never good enough", where the relationship to their own body is shown to be an arena of proving their own values, but also to escape from the terrifying demands of external success.
If we want to understand eating disorders, perhaps we should prepare ourselves for the contradictions that outline this complex state of the psyche: the need to be the best coexists with the need to disappear and be invisible, just as the need to be beautiful and attractive coexists with the need to not have a body, to be asexual or to embody characteristics of the opposite sex.
Listen to the podcast in English:
