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Companion Guide for A Season in Hell

QUESTION 4: WHAT ARE SOME OF THE CAUSES OF EATING DISORDERS PORTRAYED IN THIS FILM?

Experts generally agree that (a) there are no necessary or sufficient causes of eating disorders; and (b) eating disorders are usually caused by the intersection of a number of factors. Some of those factors portrayed or alluded to in this film are:

Cultural Promotion of Weightism

"Weightism" is a form of prejudice which denigrates people who are overweight while glorifying slenderness and weight loss. Regina Hatfield is predisposed by genetics to be chubby like her mother and her sister, but our society bombards her with messages that fat is extremely bad, that thin is extremely good, and that her body composition and shape is entirely under her control.

• peers tease her
• her father criticizes her
• thin cheerleaders are popular
• her social standing improves considerably when she loses weight
• the modern woman smokes "Virginia Slims"

- her heavy sister has few dates
- in the commercials the sexy girls attracting boys and "action" are all slender
- the Soloflex commercial implies that the modern woman is "in shape": strong, fit, sexy, and thin through waist and hips.

Restrictive Dieting

Obviously, dieting does not "cause" disordered eating. Many people diet, but relatively few develop anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa. Nevertheless, most eating disorders begin with a period of restrictive dieting which really amounts to self-induced starvation. A Season in Hell illustrates five of the ways such restrictive dieting may set the state for an eating disorder:

(1) Short-term weight loss, which is often dramatic at first, generates a short deal of reinforcement in the form of compliments, a new feeling of control, new clothes, etc. As the case for Regina, these positive outcomes may stimulate the person to lose more weight as fast as possible.

(2) Restrictive dieting requires an obsessive preoccupation with food and calories. The starvation state only intensifies these thoughts while making them more difficult to manage, It appears that the brain defends a genetically determined rage of body weight which is unique for each person. If restrictive dieting pushes a person's weight far below that "set-point" range that person is starving, regardless of how good they may look or how close her weight is to the ideal stipulated an actuarial table. And when a person is starving, he or she becomes abnormally oriented toward food and eating. This means that restrictive dieting will become more difficult as time goes on. If the dieter is one of those people for whom weight and shape are defining characteristics of the self, obsession with food and frustration over weight loss plateau may combine to motivate more extreme attempts to control hunger and lose weight.

(3) Part of the dieter's abnormal orientation toward food is a tendency to binge-eat once eating begins. Episodes of binge-eating either terrify the dieter of lead them to give up dieting. The terrified dieter may, like Regina, turn to self-induced vomiting and other drastic methods of weight management as a hedge against further episodes of bingeing. The brain's defense of a weight set point (see above) ensures that the person who gives up a restrictive diet will restore weight at a more rapid rate than it was lost. This may motivate further restrictive dieting and other forms of abusive management.

(4) Restrictive dieting is usually sustained by dichotomist thinking, such as: Not eating much when hungry = being in control = good vs. Eating when hungry = losing control = bad. In conjunction with the aforementioned biological tendency to binge-eat when starving, this none-on-all thinking sets the stage for an "abstinence violation effect." Having, for whatever reason, transgressed the thin line separating white (restricting and being good) from black (indulging and being bad), the individual plunges into over-indulgence. In Regina's case she is either dieting severely or one donut = six donuts + a tray of bacon. This will be followed by a harsh return to restriction, which, of course, only sets the stage for further overindulgences.

(5) Self-inducted starvation produces a tendency to over-react emotionally to even slight provocation. For people who are dieting in part to create a sense of control in their lives, excessive anger or anxiety will either motivate them to try even harder to lose weight or contribute to the abstinence violation effect. As we see in Regina's case, the fact that binge-eating and purging may temporarily anesthetize painful feelings only intensifies the connection between starvation, emotions, and eating disorder.

Recent Changes in our Society's Concepts of Adult Femininity

Throughout history women have been under pressure to identify themselves with their body shape and to modify their appearance for the sake of others. Sadly, in conjunction with, or in reaction to, the women's movement, this pressure continues full force. In this regard the following images within A Season in Hell are noteworthy:

• woman as manikin with a nightie
  
• woman as a bride
  
• the Virginia Slims woman "under glass"
  
• girls battling their father over earrings and make-up
  
• girls as happy cheerleaders
  
• the hardy farm woman becomes the modern woman with her fashionable clothes, gaunt cheekbones, and slender shoulders

- young woman as temptress ready for action (the Lee's Jeans Ad)

- women with food: in control but indulgent and excited (out of control) but in shape (the "charge building" commercial)

- woman as highly "toned," but sexy athlete (the Soloflex Ad)

- woman as high-fashion Sleeping Beauty (the Jontue Ad) "personal" identity through clear appeal to males (the McDonald's Ad)

A Season in Hell clearly illustrates that the upwardly mobile, status-conscious young woman of today is caught in a crossfire of conflicting messages about the body and femininity. On the one hand, she is encouraged to be an independent, career-oriented "achiever" who will leave behind the vulnerability and dependency represented by the post-World War II ideal of the anti-intellectual, family-oriented, and shapely housewife. On the other hand, she is still supposed to work hard to develop relationships with men, to be body- and fashion-conscious, to be involved with food and cooking, and to otherwise provide a variety of services for her family. The admixture of these influences leaves the "modern" young woman under pressure to be better than her mother, compete with men, please men (i.e., be just like her mother), and keep herself under control. It appears that a slender appearance, accompanied by strict management of hunger and weight, has become a public symbol of resolution of these contradictory forces. Indeed, the modern woman smokes a cigarette (which contains the appetite-suppressant nicotine) called "Virginia Slims" whose slogan is "You've come a long way, baby." It is more than a little ironic that in a time of supposed liberation and expansion of opportunity, women are under intense pressure to adhere to standards of restriction and contraction.

Of images and "packages". The personal statements and sensory images of this film highlight the marked disparity between Gina's world and the "simple" rural life of Gina's parents. Gina's existence is like this film; both are shaped by omnipresent images and symbols, many of which are elusive, fragmented, and contradictory. But equally important is the fact that, for Gina, as for many young girls (see the McDonald's commercial), becoming a symbol oneself is of tremendous importance. In this regard Gina speaks openly of "changing her package" to overcome disappointments. This external orientation makes young women vulnerable to internal emptiness and to the appeal of immediate, concrete solutions such as dramatic weight loss. It also makes it very difficult for them to derive sustenance from parents and others who do not inhabit the same symbolic world.

Personality Factors

Most women are exposed to the cultural influences of weightism and sex-role redefinition, but relatively few develop eating disorders. This means that individual factors must play a role in converting cultural pressures into psychopathology. This film illustrates several personality factors which have been identified by eating disorder experts as being influential.

Low self-esteem. Regina began her unhealthy dieting because "I got to where I thought I was nothing, a piece of dirt to be walked on. And I hated myself." She attributes this conviction to being overweight in an unforgiving society. Although there is certainly some truth to this (see p. 10), Gina's desperate search for a new body and a new image stands in stark contrast to her older sister's confidence and self-acceptance, despite being heavy. When low self-esteem is combined with the culturally sanctioned belief that weight and shape are central determinants of self-concept for females, there is an elevated risk of eating disorder.

Perfectionism. In describing Gina as a 3-year old, her father says "she liked to do things perfectly and be the best." If her extreme perfectionism persisted into adolescence, the dichotomous thinking involved would increase the intensity of both her dieting and the abstinence violation effect discussed previously.

Emotional difficulties. It is clear that Gina has a number of emotional problems. At times her emotions are blunted, leaving her cut off from the vitality of others. At other times her feelings are too strong, leaving her frightened and desperate. These problems could well be the result of her eating disorders and attendant depression. However, it is also possible that her temperament, her family life, and other developmental factors contributed to this emotional immaturity. Research has demonstrated that a significant minority of young women with eating disorders have trouble managing and expressing both positive and negative emotions. This increases the risk of turning to dieting, bingeing, and purging as forms of immediate self-control.