Savanna - Final Project

Advertising has the evil capability to shape the minds and form the
perceptions of reality to result in financial success for corporations. One of the more
controversial aspects of this occurrence is the marketing tactic of exploiting
insecurities. This attack further reinforces in the consumer a need to buy a product
to “fix” themselves., and thus insecurities are preserved and corporations are
flooded with money to keep the cycle going. Recent trends in popular culture
include the concept of “health” worship. At its base this practice seems like a
wholesome valuation of eating right and exercising. However this cultish obsession
has resulted in the creation of a new eating disorder (not yet recognized in the
medical field): Orthorexia. Orthorexia, “a term coined by Dr. Steven Bratman in
1997”( McNiely)where its victims perpetuate the health fad to extremes, which
include but are not limited to: food restriction, overcompensation with exercise, and
elimination of certain foods from the diet altogether for fear of weight gain. The final
artifact displays the marred vision an individual with Orthorexia will see when
given advertisements and articles from a popular “health” magazine: Women’s
Health. Through the harmful thoughts when looking through the lens of an
individual with this disorder, one can better understand the daily hardships that
present itself through this lens, and how each extra representation of “perfect
health” in the media adds a harmful consideration to Orthorexia’s grasp. It is no
secret that the advertising industry thrives off of the commodification of insecurity
in women, however the newest front from these agencies strictly defines the diet
and exercise regimes women “ought to be” following to insure perfection-thus
resulting in a new form of eating disorders: Orthorexia.


Works Cited:
McNiely, Claudia. "When Does 'Eating Clean' Become an Eating
Disorder? | Broadly." Broadly RSS. Vice, 3 Nov. 2015. Web. 22
Nov. 2015.
<https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/orthorexia-
eating-clean-eating-disorder>.