An ethnography of disordered eating in urban Canada
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Date
2006
Authors
Tanner, Janis
University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Lethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Faculty of Arts and Science, 2006
Abstract
This thesis examines the problem of disordered eating based on ethnographic fieldwork
in emergency shelters, soup kitchens, and eating disorder support groups, as well as
interviews with medical professionals, and other residents of a Canadian city. This
person-centered ethnography that explores the eating behaviors of not only those who
have been diagnosed with 'eating disorders', but also those who are unable at times to
provide themselves with food reveals that in spite of a prevailing discourse that
determines eating as an independent act, food choices and eating patterns are dependent
social 'works of the imagination' affected and shaped by social determinants and cultural
norms. From eating disorders to type 2 diabetes and 'food as gift,' the lived experience
of individuals indexes the ways in which food, power, and identity are enmeshed and
embedded within culture. This critical perspective argues that disordered eating is
socially and culturally produced and reproduced.
Description
vi, 182 leaves ; 29 cm.
Keywords
Dissertations, Academic , Eating disorders -- Canada -- Cross-cultural studies , Eating disorders -- Social aspects -- Canada