According to psychology there are three theoretical models used to explain thinness or eating disorder; biomedical, physiological, and feminist models. Mrs. Thompson conducted a study including eighteen African American, Latina, and White women. She interviewed, questioned, and concluded the roots of their eating disorders. She found most lead back to traumas such as: sexual abuse, racism, poverty, sexism, emotional or physical abuse, heterosexism, class injuries, and acculturation. All three examples reference back to suggesting that beauty is the main cause of thinness in women and their obsession with looking fit or thin. Most women loose weight because it can be as a positive influence on their life. There is nothing wrong with this if it is done in a healthy and educated manner. However these women in her study lost weight because of depression that was rooted back to a traumatizing experience.

     Biomedical, physiological and feminist treatment are three very positive ways to help a struggling women with an eating disorder. Biomedical and physiological treatment combine effective problem solving techniques with scientific tactics; while the feminist model looks at the social side of things. Together they create a general and well-rounded understanding of this sad illness in women.

     11 of the 18 women interviewed by Thompson were sexually abused and surprisingly binge eating was the most frequent approach to their coping. But extensive dieting and bulimia were common approaches as well. Thompson says “some women thought that the men had abused them because of their weight” and “they believed that if they were smaller, they might not have been abused.” Racism and Class standing is also a factor of thinness or eating disorders. The women interviewed in the study referred back to family members encouraging them to be slim because it looked better to the rich white business class. Both women were ethnic and their family members shamed them of their natural weight. Family is supposed to be where your support system lays, however in their cases this was were their biggest downfall laid.

-MEGHAN