WOMEN'S HEALTH

The patriarchal basis of our society, in which men are seen as valuable in and themselves ,but in which women are valuable only to the extent to which they are useful or attractive to men ,is demonstrated clearly in our gendered approach to physical beauty.Socialisation leads to very different attitudes towards the body in boys than in girls. From an early age ,media, cultural and personal influences convey the message that boys should develop and strengthen their bodies, making them more functional and more competent. Girls, by contrast, are told that they should preserve their bodies, protect them from the rigours of normal life, and make them more attractive to look at, rather than stronger ,healthier and more useful. Being female means that how one looks is more important than what one does ;men's role society is to be active and independent, women's primarily to be attractive and sexually available to men. Women's social position as more peripheral than men is expressed in the emphasis on their outward appearance rather than their subjective experience, and the restrictions which limit that appearance have a central impact on women's lives(Rothblum,1994a).

Cultural restrictions on appropriate or desirable physical appearance are much stronger for women them for men, and tolerance of diversity much weaker :prejudice or discrimination based on appearance has an adverse effect on all women who are not white, middle class, heterosexual ,young, thin and able-bodied. Consequently women tends to diet which lead to major clinical eating disorders, anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.

Anorexia nervosa and bulimia

Often instead of getting their ideas about weight from doctors and nutritionists, people getting them from advertising. Today it is fashionable to be extremely slim. Being very thin might be necessary for people to earn their living as models or movie stars. But for most people, extreme thinness is not always healthy or even physically attractive.

Anorexia nervosa

In an effort to conform to society's weight standards some young people who think they are overweight begin to diet. They are then unable to stop dieting, and their weight may drop well below 100 pounds. These people may suffer from a psychological illness called anorexia nervosa. The word anorexia means "lack or loss of appetite for food." Appetite is psychological and is dependent on the memory of past experiences. Hunger is physiological and is caused by he body's need for food.

    With anorexia, there is a loss of appetite resulting from fear, depression, anger, or other emotional states of mind. If people are suffering from anorexia, nothing can convince them that they are thin enough. By strictly controlling their intake of food, anorexics have a false sense that they are controlling their lives. If parents or friends encourage and even force them to eat more food, they may do so to avoid arguments. But often they will afterwards go to the bathroom and induce vomiting.

    Approximately 90 percent of anorexia patients are girls and women. Their condition may be connected with an unwillingness to progress from childhood to adulthood. The unnatural thinness caused by anorexia can be a means of clinging to a child's body. The malnutrition associated with it can lead to serious physical illness and even death.

Bulimia

Bulimia is an uncontrollable craving for food that leads to eating huge quantities of food(binging),followed by forces vomiting(purging)or abuse of laxatives. Similar to an anorexic, a bulimic is terrified of obesity. Some anorexic patients exhibit bulimic behaviour by eating more than 5,000 calories per day and then vomiting.

    Since the salivary glands are involved each time the patient vomits, the glands become swollen and cause the cheeks to look puffy. When important minerals, such as potassium, are lost during vomiting, the heart muscle may be affected. This can lead to cardiac arrest. Damage to the oesophagus(food tube that connects mouth and stomach) and to the enamel of the teeth is the result of the action of strong acid from the stomach.

    Like anorexia, bulimia is a self-destructive emotional disturbance and is a symptom of other life problems. For this reason, psychiatric counseling is an important part of the patient therapy. Since each patient responds differently, there is no universal cure. Various types of therapy are used, ranging from behaviour modification to hospitalization.