Abstract

In this paper I will propose an embodied approach to eating disorders, that is, an account that describes this class of pathologies as being characterized by the predominance of a detached (third-person) perspective towards one’s own body. In order to do that, I will explore the literature on the effects that visual media (such as television, magazines, and social media) have on the emergence and worsening of eating disorders symptoms and predictors. I will argue that the exposure to such kind of media produces both an “internalizationµ of ideal models of corporeity and an “externalizationµ of one’s own body image, that is, a perception of one’s body as an external object. This idea is pivotal for two theoretical constructs, namely, the “self-objectification theoryµ and the “allocentric lock hypothesisµ. I will rely on the first one to clarify the nature of the correlation between the use of visual media and the onset of body image concerns such as body dissatisfaction, drive for thinness, and body surveillance; then, I will show why the second one has proved extremely useful in providing a solid theoretical background to the clinical treatment of eating disorders through Virtual Reality. Finally, I will explore the literature on the use of Virtual Reality to treat eating disorders, in order to show that the positive impact that this tool has on the clinical condition of the subjects is both an index of the urgence to intervene on the embodied aspects of the pathology, and a good starting point for rethinking the role that media might have in promoting a positive experience of one’s corporeity.