View to be thin : interrogating media's relationship to eating disorders through audience research

This paper uses a discourse analytic approach to explore the complexity of meanings women attach to media effects in relation to eating disorders. It is based on semi- structured interviews with seven women, who identify as having varying types of eating problems. The women were asked to discuss their experiences of eating problems and media messages. This analysis explores the complexity of meanings that the women articulated, as there is no single discourse drawn upon to explain eating problems in relation to media effects. Wider implications for understandings of eating disorders are also discussed.