The SWAG Stereotype is Harmful: Eating Disorders Do Not Discriminate
Mental health experts have long known that eating disorders do not discriminate. Whether it be size, gender, or socioeconomic status, eating disorders can present themselves in the lives of any seemingly unaffected individual. Despite this, eating disorders are mistaken to only affect high-income individuals.
The media regularly fails to represent the diverse population of individuals affected by eating disorders, both limiting the audience's understanding of the illness and further stigmatizing it. The sufferers featured in the news and protagonists in films and movies are often exclusively young Caucasian girls, representative of the SWAG stereotype (skinny, white, affluent girl). Individuals who might not fit the SWAG stereotype, may not recognize their need for treatment, may not be properly screened for EDs, and may not be referred to treatment.
The SWAG stereotype can be linked back to early works on anorexia when many psychologists defined it as, "a disease of affluence" that only affected “girls who have been raised in privileged, even luxurious circumstances.” These stereotypes have also led to a negative attitude towards individuals with anorexia. My friend Sarah, a high school student who struggled with anorexia in middle school explains her perspective: "I often felt blamed for my eating disorder, that it was my choice that I was starving. I was told that I was spoiled and ungrateful when in reality, I was barely able to understand my compulsions." Eating disorders are complex. By minimizing them to issues of affluence, greed, or ungratefulness, we not only isolate those suffering, but we risk overlooking the various social, environmental, and biological factors that can lead to an eating disorder.
The SWAG stereotype has also led eating disorders to be portrayed as mutually exclusive from food insecurity. After all, why would someone who lacks access to food try to starve themselves?
Rachel Uri, a graduate researcher, writes that “individuals living in food-insecure households report not being able to afford a well-balanced meal, worrying that food will run out, not eating when hungry, cutting meal sizes or skipping meals, or going a whole day without eating. Such circumstances can lead to a tumultuous relationship with food in which uncertainty and anxiety exert a dominant influence over thoughts about diet and body image.” While more research about the relationship between food insecurity and anorexia is needed, it is still crucial to recognize that eating disorders can also occur in low-income individuals.
For the longest time, my abnormal eating habits were described to be part of a prolonged “dieting phase.” From this perspective, my immense anxiety around food and fixation on how much I ate could be easily solved if I just stopped dieting. While I am four years in recovery today, I still take notice of how certain relatives refuse to call the condition I had by its name because of the weight it bears — the guilt, shame, and perceived selfishness that comes with anorexia.
I have seen how the perception of anorexia within the South-Asian community continues to be shaped by inaccurate and harmful stereotypes.
It scares me to see anorexia sufferers labeled this way. How many more people will be told that their condition, which just happens to have the second highest mortality rate of any psychiatric condition, is just a harmless dieting phase? This level of misinformation can not be tolerated.
As our collective knowledge about anorexia progresses, it is crucial to rid ourselves of false assumptions and stereotypes about those suffering. Stereotypes about anorexia and other eating disorders are embedded into our society. However, they greatly hinder our ability to have meaningful conversations about how eating disorders can affect anyone.