English

“It is estimated that 8 million Americans have an eating disorder – seven million women and

one million men,” and that “[o]ne in 200 American women suffers from anorexia” (DMH). In

2013, anorexia is a highly known issue. It is no secret that anorexia is on the rise in society.

Since statistics have increasingly soared through the last decade, more people are becoming

concerned with the dangerous issue, including Dorothy Grice, MD. She states that anorexia is a

disease that can be passed down through generations (Grice 39). On the other hand, Sharlene

Nagy Hesse- Biber, a professor of Women’s Studies at Boston College, argues: “Anorexia is a

self-inflicted eating disorder” (233). There are several different approaches when considering

how to label anorexia ultimately showing that “anorexia nervosa” should be categorized as a

type of an eating disorder, not as a disease.