Table 1 The group ran for 10Â weeks and was facilitated by the first two named authors of the article. Each week, the participants were given an outline sheet that indicated what would be covered in the group the following week; the key questions being asked of the topic; and details of the media examples that would be used as case studies
From: Feminist approaches to Anorexia Nervosa: a qualitative study of a treatment group
Week, topic and indicative questions | Materials |
|---|---|
1. The role of society and culture in shaping EDs What do we think causes EDs? How can we think about the relationship between society and EDs, and how do such perspectives relate to arguments that EDs are more about the individual, or biology or genetics? How do we feel about these explanations (as they relate to ‘us’)? Are different EDs positioned in different ways in these debates (i.e. is AN seen as more ‘media-induced’ than other EDs?) | Press articles on the relationship between EDs and the media (e.g. EDs increasing due to the rise of social media). |
2. Appetite, gender and culture How do we receive messages and ideas about ‘appetite’ in society? What kinds of meaning and values are attached to ‘indulging’/abstaining from food/appetite? To what extent do cultural constructions of appetite and eating differ between girls/boys, men/women? How are cultural constructions of food appetite implicitly or explicitly linked to wider constructions of ‘appetite’, such as those associated with sexual desire, or ambition? | TV adverts for diet/ low fat products which feature representations of female appetite. TV adverts which sexualise the eating of ‘naughty’ foods for women. Internet memes. |
3. Emotion, anger and femininity Are there gendered expectations surrounding women expressing emotion, anger or rage? To what extent are women expected to sublimate their feelings and just ‘cope’ in a way that men - perhaps – are not? What are the political implications of this? | Representations of Elsa from Frozen (2013), including the song/sequence ‘Let it Go’. Evidence of readings made of Elsa online in relation to EDs, emotion, sexuality and more. |
4. Reflection week on what we have done so far | Â |
5. Reading the female body (1) What meanings might the thin female body convey? How does this relate to the idea of the starved female body? Can it only be read as an attempt to ‘over’ conform to the slender female ideal, or are there other ways of interpreting what might be communicated here? What does it mean to ‘take up space’, and how might these meanings be gendered? | Various media images |
6. Reading the female body (2) As above | The participants read excerpts from other women’s’ narratives about why they think they developed an ED. They were then asked to situate these in relation to the groups so far. |
7. ‘Healthy’ eating cultures and gender How does the exhortation of ‘healthy eating’ – and the cultural anxiety around the dangers of obesity – impact people with an ED? To what extent are media and public health messages about ‘healthy living’ and ‘healthy weight’ gendered, and still tied to a narrow range of ideal body images? | ‘Healthy’ eating blogs, clips on ‘clean eating’ |
8. Fitness cultures and gender How is the contemporary ideal of the ‘fit’ body gendered? To what extent is the fit – as opposed to ‘just skinny’ – body still tied to a narrow range of body types and potentially oppressive self-surveillance/regulation practices? What do we think about the rise of ‘Athleisure’ wear, and what does it say about the relationship between body, fitness and gender? | # Fitspiration images from Instagram, Fitbit adverts |
9–10 – reflections on the group, how it might relate to ‘us’, and how we might use its content in recovery |  |