How Do Celebrity Eating Disorder Confessions Impact Society’s View of the Disorders Themselves?

If you had asked me to name celebrities that openly discussed their struggle with an eating disorder ten years ago, I could have listed all of them on one hand. However, times are changing, and celebrities are now more open about their struggles with disordered eating thoughts and behaviors than any other time in history.

Stars like Jameela Jamil, Demi Lovato, Taylor Swift, and Lady Gaga have openly discussed the challenges they have faced in attempting to live up to our culture’s unrealistic expectations. In addition, male stars such as Sir Elton John, Russel Brand, and Zayn Malik have also opened up about their own struggles.

These names only represent a few of those celebrities openly acknowledging the dangerous behaviors they have taken, and the toll it has had on their mental and physical health, to appear as society expects them to. So, how is this wave of openness impacting society’s view of eating disorders themselves?

Normalization of Bulimia, Anorexia and Binge Eating Disorder

Normalization of eating disorder conversations refers to these disorders being viewed as a “norm” or “standard.” While we do not want eating disorders to become a norm, we do want the discussion about disordered eating thoughts and behaviors to become a norm.

The more these disorders and their consequences are discussed openly, the more the reality of the danger they present is known. Having stars discuss their experiences helps to increase normalization around eating disorder conversations.

In fact, many individuals express that their favorite star opening up about their challenges inspired them to also discuss their struggles and seek help.

A possible downside to this normalization is that sometimes people behave in the opposite manner. Sometimes, we can see ourselves in celebrities. However, when looking closer, one can see that their lifestyle relates very little to the average American.

As such, celebrity eating disorder confessions can have the opposite effect, with individuals saying, “but they aren’t like me…this is what I ‘have’ to do because I don’t have a chef, trainer, stylist, etc.”

Increasing Media Literacy of Eating Disorders

What celebrity eating disorder confessions do help is increasing media literacy or the ability an individual has to critically evaluate media. When a celebrity acknowledges the true danger and negative consequences of the behaviors they engaged in to appear a certain way physically, the public can begin to construct more critical belief systems about media representation.

Instead of thinking these individuals are effortlessly perfect, they gain more information on the steps taken to keep-up these appearances and learn, from the horses’ own mouth, the danger this presented to their physical and mental health.

The hope is that consumers would then see other images or advertisements and, instead of taking them at face value, ask themselves what is happening behind-the-scenes to portray perfection where it does not and cannot exist.

Confessing vs. Fighting a Celebrity Eating Disorder

The route each celebrity takes in discussing disordered eating is different. There are individuals such as Jameela Jamil, dedicating her social media, podcast, and public image to actively combatting diet culture, going so far as to point out other celebrities whose paid advertisements perpetuate these harmful behaviors. Also, Demi Lovato has
been encouraging to many to seek eating disorder treatment by her own example.

Then, there are those celebrities that acknowledge disordered eating as a part of their experience but do not actively engage in advocacy or work to dismantle the systems that create unrealistic pressure around weight and appearance. While each individual is entitled to their own method of opening up about their experience, it can create a danger where consumers become jaded to those confessions.

A celebrity that acknowledges unrealistic beauty expectations then shows up 10 seconds later, advertising the “need” for a specific product to bring joy, confidence, etc. is likely to leave consumers a bit confused. Celebrities make a great deal of their money off advertising for clothing, diets, and cosmetics.

Is it really beneficial that they acknowledge unfair beauty standards while profiting off of the system that perpetuates them?

Helping vs. Hurting People Facing Eating Disorders

Considering the possible benefits or pitfalls of celebrity eating disorder confessions is tough because it generates more questions than it answers. For every celebrity confessing, the impact depends on the consumers, how the consumer views this celebrity, and their subsequent behaviors.

One study aimed to statistically examine the impact of celebrity eating disorder confessions by looking at whether “media coverage of celebrity eating disorder disclosures corresponded with changes in Google searches for pro-ED terms (1).”

The results indicated that the search for pro-ED terms might increase after media coverage of celebrity eating disorder confessions (1). A specific example was that, in the month immediately following Lady Gaga’s discussion of her eating disorder experience, “there was a significant increase in the search volumes for pro-ED searches” compared to the month before (1).

The findings acknowledged limitations that causation cannot be implied. However, what these results do remind us is that eating disorders are cunning illnesses. What one may imagine would deter an individual from engaging in disordered behaviors may actually be triggering.

The truth is, we cannot rely on celebrity confessions to cure eating disorders through their own acknowledgment. Nor can we be comfortable consuming in a way that means they are paid for perpetuating unrealistic beauty standards.

The most helpful option may be to not consider celebrity experiences at all and do not place these mere humans on a pedestal as if their knowledge and life experience are universal and correct for anyone else. Perhaps the best we can do for our own mental health is to live our own lives according to our reality as opposed to conforming it to a celebrity’s reality.

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Resources:

1. Lewis, S. P., Klauninger, L., Marcincinova, I. (2016). Pro-eating disorder search patterns: the possible influence of celebrity eating disorder stories in the media. Journal of Eating Disorders.

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About the Author:

Margot Rittenhouse, MS, PLPC, NCC is a therapist who is passionate about providing mental health support to all in need and has worked with clients with substance abuse issues, eating disorders, domestic violence victims, and offenders, and severely mentally ill youth.

As a freelance writer for Eating Disorder Hope and Addiction Hope and a mentor with MentorConnect, Margot is a passionate eating disorder advocate, committed to de-stigmatizing these illnesses while showing support for those struggling through mentoring, writing, and volunteering. Margot has a Master’s of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Johns Hopkins University.

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The opinions and views of our guest contributors are shared to provide a broad perspective on eating disorders. These are not necessarily the views of Eating Disorder Hope, but an effort to offer a discussion of various issues by different concerned individuals.

We at Eating Disorder Hope understand that eating disorders result from a combination of environmental and genetic factors. If you or a loved one are suffering from an eating disorder, please know that there is hope for you, and seek immediate professional help.

Published August 27, 2020, on EatingDisorderHope.com
Reviewed & Approved on August 27, 2020, by Jacquelyn Ekern MS, LPC