Sharlene Nagy Hesse-Biber’s “The Spread of the Cult of Thinness” is a chapter from her book The Cult of Thinness that was published in 2007. She is a professor of sociology at Boston College and directed its Women’s Studies program. She is also the director of the National Association for Women in Catholic Higher Education. The author is trying to figure out why eating disorders are common among women. Her purpose for writing this is to explain connections that she sees between ritualized behaviors and the obsession with the impossible ideal both in cults and in eating disorders. Hesse-Biber hopes to influence both genders as she discusses the struggles both men and women face in regards to their bodies. The author’s main claim is that the
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She begins by stating facts about how family members, specifically mothers, have a strong impact in influencing positive or negative self-image; she does this through interviews held with other women. “She made sarcastic remarks like ‘you have the fattest thighs in the world.’ She was always saying ‘you better watch what you eat, you’re going to get fat; you look chunky.’” (Hesse-Biber 772). This supports the idea that the impact that mothers have on their daughters in regards to body image sometimes has a lasting effect on their self-esteem. Hesse-Biber continues with more statistics about how adolescent boys “at any one time between 20%-50% of boys want to lose weight, while 20% to slightly over 50% are trying to ‘bulk up’” (774). With this in mind, it helps explain why teenage boys are always at the gym trying to lose weight and gain muscle. The author moves on to facts about African women and their views on body image. According to Hesse-Biber, “research indicates that black women are less concerned with being thin and that eating disorders are less common in black women than in white women” (784). This strengthens the idea that there are different ideas of what is the acceptable body in other cultural groups. In short, the author argued logically and linked the claims and evidence. The claims also follow from …show more content…
She appeals to people’s emotions with interviews and personal stories from many people, which are examples that reveal the difficulties both men and women have in regards to body weight and image. Her goal is to get people of both genders thinking about the struggles each gender has with body image and weight and the expectations that come along with being a certain gender. Hesse-Biber knows what readers believe and value in regards to body image, and therefore appeals to the reader’s sense of right and wrong. The author doesn’t use loaded or exaggerated language that may cause distrust among readers.
To summarize, the author makes good use of ethos, pathos, and logos. There is a good balance in all three appeals that makes this essay effective. The use of pathos may help increase the argument’s effectiveness because it seemed to be the weakest of the three appeals. If there was more emotion at different points of the passage, I do think that would help make Hesse-Biber’s argument more
She begins by stating facts about how family members, specifically mothers, have a strong impact in influencing positive or negative self-image; she does this through interviews held with other women. “She made sarcastic remarks like ‘you have the fattest thighs in the world.’ She was always saying ‘you better watch what you eat, you’re going to get fat; you look chunky.’” (Hesse-Biber 772). This supports the idea that the impact that mothers have on their daughters in regards to body image sometimes has a lasting effect on their self-esteem. Hesse-Biber continues with more statistics about how adolescent boys “at any one time between 20%-50% of boys want to lose weight, while 20% to slightly over 50% are trying to ‘bulk up’” (774). With this in mind, it helps explain why teenage boys are always at the gym trying to lose weight and gain muscle. The author moves on to facts about African women and their views on body image. According to Hesse-Biber, “research indicates that black women are less concerned with being thin and that eating disorders are less common in black women than in white women” (784). This strengthens the idea that there are different ideas of what is the acceptable body in other cultural groups. In short, the author argued logically and linked the claims and evidence. The claims also follow from …show more content…
She appeals to people’s emotions with interviews and personal stories from many people, which are examples that reveal the difficulties both men and women have in regards to body weight and image. Her goal is to get people of both genders thinking about the struggles each gender has with body image and weight and the expectations that come along with being a certain gender. Hesse-Biber knows what readers believe and value in regards to body image, and therefore appeals to the reader’s sense of right and wrong. The author doesn’t use loaded or exaggerated language that may cause distrust among readers.
To summarize, the author makes good use of ethos, pathos, and logos. There is a good balance in all three appeals that makes this essay effective. The use of pathos may help increase the argument’s effectiveness because it seemed to be the weakest of the three appeals. If there was more emotion at different points of the passage, I do think that would help make Hesse-Biber’s argument more