Louise Kendrick

[Louise]

My current idea is to write the paper on the Millennial Generation and eating disorders. I think it would be interesting, as we're the first generation to have major interventions trying to promote good body image and self-esteem, but we're also getting exposed to a whole lot of pressure, anxiety, and media, which up one's chances of developing an ED a whole lot.
I think it would probably have to do a lot of piecing together of research, because while I'm sure I can find articles that say GenY watches a lot of television and articles that say television ups the risk factor, there might not be both of those in one source.
The other thing that I would be interested in doing is getting some first-hand data through this magical interweb and seeing about putting a survey on an ED site. I know that it might not be the most reliable, but I do think it would be useful, especially if I want to snag meaningful quotes (quotes are always good).

One thing I am concerned about is triggers, though, since we do have to present these papers, so if it would be tricky for anyone to hear about this please do say something (it doesn't have to be on here).

[Paige Dolinski]

Although a specific type of body has always been revered throughout cultures over the years (back from 1100 BCE in Eastern Europe till now - the revered body types varying with the culture's values...i.e, bigger body type symbolized wealth in some cultures, etc), what I'm curious about is how eating disorders began...and how the advertising geared toward women (sorry, guys) has changed for Millennials. Although I'm sure there's also pressure put on guys by ads as well, but there may be more data on women.

Maybe it'd be good to examine some women ads during the 50s (youtube it?) and compare those ads to the ones being shown on TV now. Subliminal messaging may be something to think about (while being skinny may not be the blatant aim of the ads today, most only feature a certain body type - does that have any influence over kids these days?) There must be some psychological studies on this.

[Fred Cooksey]

Nice afro, Paige.

Hmmm.... all kinds of possibilities here, though the idea that keeps popping into my head is that ED (eating disorders, not erectile dysfunction -- which is what the initials most commonly stand for these days; I thought you should know if you're doing research) got a lot of attention when Gen X was teenagers and 20-somethings -- this was the late 80s, roughly. So my first thought is that you might examine how the decrease in attention to ED has manifested itself. Of course people are still aware of it, but it seems to be a much quieter issue now than in the past. In fact (and I don't know if this is ironic or not), there seems to be a lot more attention to obesity (and not as an ED) than anorexia/related disorders. This leaves me wondering if ED are less common than they were 20 years ago, and if so, why? Was the public education campaign effective? Was there something about my generation that was more susceptible to such things (two of my close female friends were anorexic in late 80s)? Certainly I think there's been a movement toward awareness of "healthy" body image for women. Maybe it's working?

Interesting possibilities -- keep me posted as you shape this more specifically....

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