Document Type

Thesis

Publication Date

5-8-2018

First Advisor

Jumi Hayaki

Abstract

This literature review considers how navigating gender and sexuality can have detrimental effects on the development and maintenance of eating disorders. My research explores how societal expectations of masculinity, femininity, and sexuality impact an individual’s relationship with their body, food, and exercise. Unique life stressors faced by members of gender and sexual minorities are also examined. My paper examines and explains how much of the research surrounding eating disorders does not include gender and sexual minority participants, despite the fact that such individuals are overrepresented in diagnosed cases of eating disorders. This gap in the literature has implications for future research in the eating disorder field. My research concludes that (a) future research should be focused on exploring why body consciousness in the United States has generally increased, and (b) future treatment should take into account the ways in which individuals of various demographic groups with disordered eating internalize societal expectations.

Comments

Capstone thesis for Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies concentration.

Presented at the 2018 Academic Conference.

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