thinness

     Seven million woman today suffer from eating disorders, and there are three theoretical models used to treat and explain these disorders. The three theoretical models consist of the biomedical model, psychological model and the gender model. All models focus on cultural obsession with thinness. The biomedical, psychological and the gender models all link to some type of trauma such as sexual abuse, racism, sexim, herterosexism, classism and poverty. Each model explains that eating is a coping mechanism to deal with some type of trauma. The biomedical and phychological models neglect woman of color, lesbians and working-class women, while the gender model focuses on women of all color and cultures. The biomedical model ignored eating problem that are influenced by cultural and social factors. The psychological model displays eating disorders and identifies them as “multidimensional disorders”, which are influenced by biological, psychological, and cultural factors. The gender modle asserts that eating problems are gendered. Sexual abuse is considered a trauma that contributes to eating disorders. Between one third and two thirds of woman with eating disorders have been sexually abused and can make the connection between their trauma and eating disorder. All models are treated differently. The biomedical model is medically treated, and the gender model is theraputically treated and the gendermodel is treated by individual pathology.

By Alicya