Anorexia Nervosa - Hidden Meanings and Agendas

"Anorexia Nervosa - Hidden Meanings and Agendas" is an investigation into the the various ways in which Anorexia has been represented by various contemporary mediums.The very history of the disease is uncertain.The recruitment of anorectics plays a major part in the debate which circulates around Anorexia Mirabilis and it's link with Anorexia Nervosa.Focusing on theorists such as Rudolph Bell and J.J Brumberg, this book investigates the visual culture which existed in tandem with Anorexia Mirabilis, and enables me to establish that a thin ideal existed before contemporary culture.Using Eve Kosofsky Sedgewicks epistemology of the closet, I show that Anorexia Nervosa's outing was very dramatic.Investigating films and advertising unveils an archetype of the anorectic that exists in contemporary culture. Looking at the work of popular feminist literature I explore the concepts they have imposed on Anorexia's terrain and question if they have been intentionally put in place. Archetypes, myths and many different concepts have been mapped onto Anorexia Nervosa but do these concepts have the power to influence?