In your Week Four readings there is a case study located in Box 8.3 in chapter 8 of the textbook, Abnormal Psychology, called “Exporting Eating Disorders: We Have to Have Those Thin, Slim Bodies.” I would like for each of you to read through this case and determine whether or not you agree with the findings of the case.

          Western television shows do influence how some women perceive themselves and what they perceive as what is a level of achievement. Western television shows often portray some women as sex symbols, who have fit or skinny bodies. Often some viewers perceive that these women achieve certain job titles, money, boyfriends, husbands, or achieve certain status symbols as a result of their body types; instead of because one's education or determination. Therefore, some women want what these other women on television have achieved, and develop a false notion that this is a result of one's skinny or fit body. Therefore, in mimicking the body types of certain women portrayed on western television shows, some women develop eating disorders as a result of such behavior because of a false notion that a certain body type is what determines and gains success. However, many women do not develop such false notions or eating disorders as a result of watching western television shows. These types of women do not have low self-esteem and have a valid sense of self-worth; therefore, they are unaffected by the portrayal of some women in western television shows.      

Reference

Hansell, J., & Damour, L. (2008). Abnormal psychology (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.