A sociocultural perspective of eating disorders in countries outside the United States The recognition of the importance of social discourses

in the Western culture, and the process of internalization of these social standards has propelled many researchers in sociocultural perspective of eating disorders in recent decades. Consequently, the impact of social constructions has been weaved into the etiology of eating disorders. Piran & Cormier (2005) delineates three major social constructs: 1) Self-silencing of needs--women internalize social expectation of themselves as caregivers, resulting in their negative self-experiences and disempowerment. 2) The suppression of anger and resentmentwomen comply with these socialized patterns, bringing about depressive symptoms and eating disorders. 3) The objectification of womens body--women internalize the critical and sexualized gaze toward their bodies, lead to their poor body esteem, shame, and anxiety. United States--the new Roman Empire, the flagship of modern Western civilization has become the incubator for eating disorders. Unlike Roman religion that encompassed hundreds of other religions, and developed them into a rich and complex mythology, the modern mythology is compiled that of a competitive endeavor for success, an obsessive exertion toward unrealistic cultural demands, and an incessant hunger for materialism. Eeating disorders were classified at first as culture-bound syndromes used by women as an idiom of distress to express problems within Western culture. However, participation in a global market economy and heavy media exposure to Western culture and values has afflicted many countries outside the United States with growing cases of eating disorder. A study done by Becker (2004) suggests that media imagery is used by Fijian girls to model the perceived positive attributes of characters presented in television dramas, which marks the beginnings of weight and body shape preoccupation, purging behavior to control weight, and

body disparagement. In Japan, the rising number in eating disorders correlated with increasing industrialization, and the diminishing traditional family structure. Pike & Borovoy (2004) points to the importance of specific Japanese culture in shaping eating disorders and explores two particular dimensions of culture in modern Japan: (1) gender development and gender role expectations for females coming of age; and (2) beauty ideals and the role of weight and shape concerns in the etiology of eating disorders. Likewise, advertising of diet products that flood the market in China emphasize the thinness image to the public, alluring people with low self-esteem to eating disorders. In Argentina, the occurrence rate of anorexia and bulimia is out of control. Women across Argentina will resort, at all costs, to look their best and are obsessed with their bodies. Women that do not fit this harsh ideal end up in their own world of self-hate. In the gradual capitulation to the Western culture, women with eating disorders reported higher levels of perfectionism and anxiety, vast challenges to maintaining an active professional and personal life, and viewed themselves as different from the norm. The sociocultural perspective is essential in explaining eating disorders outside the United States and understanding the vulnerability to images and values imported with media will be critical to preventing disordered eating.