May it Be a Feminist Protest? A Sociological Study on the Meaning of Anorexia According to Anorectics

Depending upon the data of a phenomenological field research, this study aims to describe the meaning attributed to anorexia by seven women who were diagnosed and treated with anorexia and to evaluate it in the light of feminist literature. Participants were reached through purposive sampling, and data were collected through face-to-face semi-structured interviews. The findings show that the participants consider anorexia as a disorder, however, they interpret anorexia in relation to the dignity of self-control, liberation, and protection. For the participants, anorexia is not a process of reaching a certain weight or physical image, but a process of moving away from the physical and mental indicators of the secondary status of femininity. In this respect, the findings support the argument that anorexia is an unconscious protest against gender stereotypes. During the anorexia process, the participants reject femininity based on both body and social roles and reconcile with the female identity they reject after psychological or psychiatric treatment. However, problems related to gender-related responsibilities and expectations, which disappeared for a while during the anorexia process due to the fact that this reconciliation did not include a questioning of the meaning of gender roles, reappear after reconciliation with the female identity after treatment.