Abstract

Eating disorders (EDs) such as anorexia and bulimia continue to be persistent problems and their treatment fraught. As others have identified, these issues are in part due to the continued overemphasis on the health effects of EDs instead of the experiences of them and the purposes they serve. In this article, I argue that attention to the affective forces that engender and maintain anorexia and bulimia provide insight into how these forces shape experiences and sensations of embodiment, as well as how ED practices function as responses to trauma. I use the Möbius Strip as a model for a body topology to illuminate how the psychic and material bodies are imbricated, informing how anorexia and bulimia work to secure bodily boundaries while actually inciting further psychic and physical harm. This article is based on 19 semi-structured interviews with 11 women struggling with and/or in recovery from anorexia and/or bulimia. My study found that the majority of subjects’ anorexia and bulimia are rooted in negative affects (i.e., shame, fear, and disgust). These findings suggest that anorexia and bulimia are bodily constitutions in which spatial relations produce an intense vulnerability and sense of abjection, which in turn alters the body-space that ED practices work to stabilize and protect. Within geography, an attention to EDs can further elucidate the material, affective, psychic and historical forces that impress the vulnerable and fluctuating experiences of embodiment.

摘要

厌食症和贪食症等饮食失调症 (EDs) 仍然是持续存在的问题，其治疗令人担忧。正如其他人所指出的那样，这些问题的部分原因是继续过分强调 ED 的健康影响，而不是他们的经历和他们所服务的目的。在本文中，我认为关注引起和维持厌食症和贪食症的情感力量可以深入了解这些力量如何塑造体验和体现的感觉，以及 ED 实践如何作为对创伤的反应发挥作用。我使用莫比乌斯带作为身体拓扑的模型来阐明精神和物质身体是如何重叠的，说明厌食症和贪食症如何在确保身体界限的同时实际上引发进一步的精神和身体伤害。本文基于对 11 名在厌食症和/或贪食症中挣扎和/或康复的女性进行的 19 次半结构化访谈。我的研究发现，大多数受试者的厌食症和贪食症都源于负面影响（即羞耻、恐惧和厌恶）。这些研究结果表明，厌食症和贪食症是身体结构，其中空间关系会产生强烈的脆弱性和落魄感，这反过来会改变 ED 实践用来稳定和保护的身体空间。在地理学中，对 ED 的关注可以进一步阐明物质的、情感的、精神的和历史的力量，这些力量给脆弱和波动的具身体验留下深刻印象。我的研究发现，大多数受试者的厌食症和贪食症都源于负面影响（即羞耻、恐惧和厌恶）。这些研究结果表明，厌食症和贪食症是身体结构，其中空间关系会产生强烈的脆弱性和落魄感，这反过来会改变 ED 实践用来稳定和保护的身体空间。在地理学中，对 ED 的关注可以进一步阐明物质的、情感的、精神的和历史的力量，这些力量给脆弱和波动的具身体验留下深刻印象。我的研究发现，大多数受试者的厌食症和贪食症都源于负面影响（即羞耻、恐惧和厌恶）。这些研究结果表明，厌食症和贪食症是身体结构，其中空间关系会产生强烈的脆弱性和落魄感，这反过来会改变 ED 实践用来稳定和保护的身体空间。在地理学中，对 ED 的关注可以进一步阐明物质的、情感的、精神的和历史的力量，这些力量给脆弱和波动的具身体验留下深刻印象。