Ilona Burton, at The Independent, published a post of interest recently. Though it wasn't perfect, in a sense she almost winds up contradicting herself, she does provide a refreshingly good finger wagging to the blame-game crowd for vilifying pro-ana websites. Indeed, she has the wisdom to provide a general criticism of those who find the source of all social ills in popular culture. It is a good point.
As I've argued at the site Celebrities with Eating Disorders, blaming celebrities in this manner is a ruse of self denial. Eating disorders, whether they're ours or those of our loved ones, are our responsibility, not that of some media conjured straw man. Whatever you think of pro-ana sites, it is baseless to accuse them as a direct cause. In fact, such sites are as much symptom as cause. A brief reminder of pop culture history reveals that this urge to blame some semi-anonymous "other" for the corruption of youth or the corrosion of society is a rather old cop-out.
Such ridiculous attitudes go right back to ancient Athens, where none other than Plato fretted over the corrupting influence upon Athenian youth of theater and poetry. Throughout the ages the same theme appears over and over again. The explosion of 20th century mass communication media has though really thrown open the flood gates for this kind of pop culture blame-game.
In the 1940s social critics condemned swing music as a morally eroding influence that would hinder the war effort. In the 40s and 50s comic books were supposedly the cause of an alleged youth violence epidemic and juvenile delinquency. Elvis Presley couldn't be shown on television form the hips down and there was deep anxiety about the libidinal blackness of the music with which he was making nice young girls swoon.
By the time we reach the 1960s it is the TV itself that becomes a purveyor of social decay, supposedly rotting the brains of the nation's youth. And worst of all were the Beatles, whose music was accused of promoting free love and the use of psychedelic drugs. A backlash against what came to be called Beatlemania came to a head with mass bonfires to burn their records, subsequent to an impious remark by John Lennon. By the 70s, it was the raw physicality and sensuousness of disco music which was accused of tearing at the fabric of sexual mores and undermining common decency.
The 1980s brought us left-wing feminists claiming that pornography created rapists and right-wing moralists claiming that heavy metal music caused Satanism. And the 90s saw new panics about rap music promoting criminality, rave fatalities and the recent World Wide Web turning people into computer screen dazed anti-social zombies wasting away in their basements.
This is all old stuff. Mass media have been blamed for apathy and violence, teenage pregnancy, social conformism and deviancy. No surprise that today it's blamed for both anorexia and obesity.
All of this, though, makes perfect sense when you recognize what's really going on under the surface of this endless blame-game. It is a resolute refusal to take responsibility. Whether it is responsibility for our own actions or for how we respond to the actions of our loved ones. It's very difficult to accept that those we love may make choices that we see as disturbing, despairing and yes even self-destructive. Hand in hand with such blame deflecting denial comes all the exaggeration and distortion typical of such social panics. Even without the exaggeration and distortion, though, the central challenge still confronts us.
Each one of us is uniquely responsible for what we do, with our own lives, and in response to the choices of our loved ones. Turning others into our punching bags or scapegoats may provide some momentary relief from the burden of personal responsibility. It ultimately solves nothing, though. The celebrities of stage, screen and runway, are easy targets, but that can't (even if they wanted to) make anyone choose how to live.
If people do not take responsibility for their own actions, their own families and their own communities, every problem will be a chimera, in need of some magical solution. Blaming mass media or popular culture celebrities with eating disorders for our own choices and those of our children is magical thinking.
A mythical dragon though is merely a straw man. Yes, it is a comforting means for unleashing our rage and deflecting our anger, disappointment and fear. It does nothing though to help us come to grips with real problems - and real solutions.
As I've argued at the site Celebrities with Eating Disorders, blaming celebrities in this manner is a ruse of self denial. Eating disorders, whether they're ours or those of our loved ones, are our responsibility, not that of some media conjured straw man. Whatever you think of pro-ana sites, it is baseless to accuse them as a direct cause. In fact, such sites are as much symptom as cause. A brief reminder of pop culture history reveals that this urge to blame some semi-anonymous "other" for the corruption of youth or the corrosion of society is a rather old cop-out.
Such ridiculous attitudes go right back to ancient Athens, where none other than Plato fretted over the corrupting influence upon Athenian youth of theater and poetry. Throughout the ages the same theme appears over and over again. The explosion of 20th century mass communication media has though really thrown open the flood gates for this kind of pop culture blame-game.
In the 1940s social critics condemned swing music as a morally eroding influence that would hinder the war effort. In the 40s and 50s comic books were supposedly the cause of an alleged youth violence epidemic and juvenile delinquency. Elvis Presley couldn't be shown on television form the hips down and there was deep anxiety about the libidinal blackness of the music with which he was making nice young girls swoon.
By the time we reach the 1960s it is the TV itself that becomes a purveyor of social decay, supposedly rotting the brains of the nation's youth. And worst of all were the Beatles, whose music was accused of promoting free love and the use of psychedelic drugs. A backlash against what came to be called Beatlemania came to a head with mass bonfires to burn their records, subsequent to an impious remark by John Lennon. By the 70s, it was the raw physicality and sensuousness of disco music which was accused of tearing at the fabric of sexual mores and undermining common decency.
The 1980s brought us left-wing feminists claiming that pornography created rapists and right-wing moralists claiming that heavy metal music caused Satanism. And the 90s saw new panics about rap music promoting criminality, rave fatalities and the recent World Wide Web turning people into computer screen dazed anti-social zombies wasting away in their basements.
This is all old stuff. Mass media have been blamed for apathy and violence, teenage pregnancy, social conformism and deviancy. No surprise that today it's blamed for both anorexia and obesity.
All of this, though, makes perfect sense when you recognize what's really going on under the surface of this endless blame-game. It is a resolute refusal to take responsibility. Whether it is responsibility for our own actions or for how we respond to the actions of our loved ones. It's very difficult to accept that those we love may make choices that we see as disturbing, despairing and yes even self-destructive. Hand in hand with such blame deflecting denial comes all the exaggeration and distortion typical of such social panics. Even without the exaggeration and distortion, though, the central challenge still confronts us.
Each one of us is uniquely responsible for what we do, with our own lives, and in response to the choices of our loved ones. Turning others into our punching bags or scapegoats may provide some momentary relief from the burden of personal responsibility. It ultimately solves nothing, though. The celebrities of stage, screen and runway, are easy targets, but that can't (even if they wanted to) make anyone choose how to live.
If people do not take responsibility for their own actions, their own families and their own communities, every problem will be a chimera, in need of some magical solution. Blaming mass media or popular culture celebrities with eating disorders for our own choices and those of our children is magical thinking.
A mythical dragon though is merely a straw man. Yes, it is a comforting means for unleashing our rage and deflecting our anger, disappointment and fear. It does nothing though to help us come to grips with real problems - and real solutions.
About the Author:
Keep tabs on us for all the scoop on all manner of controversies over Celebrities with Eating Disorders . Mickey Jhonny is a super source of insightful and provocative articles on popular culture. If you're a fan of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series, his piece tearing off the cover of its dirty little secret is an absolute must read.
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