Multiracial feminist theorizing about eating problems: Refusing to rank oppressions

Abstract

Abstract In the past few years, there has been increasing recognition that eating problems affect a diverse group. However, this awareness has not significantly changed theories about etiology. Most research focuses on the impact of gender on women's eating patterns, while placing issues of race, class, and sexuality outside the frame of reference. This article, based on life history interviews with African American, Latina, and white women (both lesbian and heterosexual), scrutinizes the standard profile of eating problems and offers a theory that refuses to rank oppression. A multiracial focus demonstrates that the origins of eating problems have little to do with vanity or an obsession with appearance. Rather, they begin as survival strategies in response to racism, homophobia, classism, the stress of acculturation, and emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. A multiracial focus also underscores why the prevention of eating problems depends not simply upon individual healing but also on changing the social conditions that underlie their etiology.