Who’s Considered Thin Enough for Eating Disorder Article Analysis

Don’t judge a book by its cover, or more importantly, don’t judge anorexia by a person’s weight. Virginia Sole-Smith, the author of The Eating Instinct and forthcoming novel Fat Kid Phobia, in her article “Who’s Considered Thin Enough for Eating Disorder,” writes to debunk the theory that body weight is the main sign to determine if someone is going through an eating disorder. Instead, Smith believes it is important to focus on the symptoms and the effects of these eating disorders so that, people can get the treatment that is needed. Smith is able to cater her article towards young adults demonstrated through her compelling use of pathos and logos to help raise awareness for this issue as well as spark a need for change. Smith argues that anybody can suffer from an eating disorder no matter the certain weight category they may fall into through the use of a serious tone to set the stage, emotional first-hand narration, and the effective use of numerous statistics.

Smith begins her article by setting the stage through a very serious tone that gets her audience acquainted with the severity of eating disorders such as anorexia. Smith is able to demonstrate this serious tone when describing a patient who suffers from anorexia when she states, “Once, in her early 20s, she passed out from hunger at the top of a staircase, fell, and gave herself a concussion. More recently, she’s shown signs of pancreatic failure”(Smith). Smith wonderfully demonstrates the severity of eating disorders as she wastes no time describing these dangerous effects switching from a short term effect to a potential disability that could last a lifetime. Smith incorporates pathos here through her serious tone as she informs her audience about the nature of this specific case, but more importantly that eating disorders can leave a long-lasting impact no matter how much the victim weighs. Smith later builds upon her serious tone when describing the misunderstanding our society has with eating disorders when she states, “Bodyweight is so tied to our cultural understanding of eating disorders, it’s difficult to envision how treatment centers could move to a weight neutral treatment model”(Smith). Smith is notably forthcoming as she is expressing her concern as well as the urgent need to readjust our model when treating eating disorders. Smith is adding on to pathos here as she is admitting that while it may be difficult to readjust our models it is needed. Our culture as a whole has a serious misconception that bodyweight determines who may be suffering from eating disorders resulting in numerous victims unable to get proper treatment.

Another essential appeal Smith integrates into her article is emotional first-hand narration. Smith helps get a different perspective on the issue of eating disorders by looking into the life of Rose, who has struggled with eating disorders since the age of 10. However, she does not fit into the typical body stereotype. Smith describes the challenges and struggles Rose is dealing with when she states, “when Rose woke up this morning, she passed out as soon as she stood up… Rose stopped eating everything except broccoli, cauliflower, and bell peppers two weeks ago…” (Smith). While first-hand narration can frequently be grouped into the category of ethos due to the credibility, it is clear Smith is using this first-hand narration to get to the emotion of the audience. Smith later includes another quote from Rose when she states, “‘I’m so uncomfortable because I ate for the first time today,’ she says. ‘And I know I need to just sit with these feelings, but it’s very hard’” (Smith). It is clear that Rose is struggling with her eating disorder, and Smith does a great job of pointing out how something so simple to most can cause someone else so much pain. Smith is able to perfectly incorporate pathos here by capturing the audience and making them feel attached to Rose and the problems that she is dealing with. Through this audience engagement, Smith is not only able to gain the credibility of the audience through this first-hand account, but she is also able to get the audience to feel more inclined to pay more attention to eating disorders in general and disregard the weight stigmas that are often on hand. 

While pathos was a significant focus for Smith through her use of a serious tone and emotional first-hand narration, Smith also implements logos in the form of statistics. Smith included numerous statistics that helped back up her argument that anybody can suffer from an eating disorder. One of these statistics helps portray the under-representation of those who suffer from eating disorders when Smith states, “Just 0.6% of Americans will be diagnosed with anorexia nervosa during their lifetime, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. But if patients didn’t have to meet the weight criteria, researchers say, that number would be far higher” (Smith). Smith finds a great piece of evidence that highlights the tiny percentage of Americans that will actually be diagnosed with anorexia nervosa. She builds off of that argument by showing how many Americans are not technically diagnosed with the disorder due to their weight; however, they are still suffering from the same symptoms. Smith does a great job by including logos here by eliminating some bias and resorting to facts to prove her argument. By using facts, Smith can gain the trust among her audience as well as employ a much more convincing argument. Smith later rebukes the idea that bodyweight results in different symptoms when she states, “When researchers compared 118 patients with “full threshold” anorexia nervosa to 42 patients with atypical anorexia, they found no statistically significant difference in each group’s rate of bradycardia (dangerously slow heart rate) and orthostatic instability (low blood pressure causing blackouts)” (Smith). This is compelling evidence that people are being treated differently simply because of their appearance, although they suffer the same symptoms. Smith further implements her argument by attacking the counterargument that people in different body weights experience different symptoms through strong analytical pieces of evidence.

Through a serious tone, emotional first-hand narration, and numerous statistics, Virginia-Sole Smith is able to guide her audience through the challenges that many face while dealing with eating disorders. She shines a light on the mishaps of numerous health care treatment centers through the lack of diagnoses resulting in far too many victims unable to get the treatment they need simply due to their weight. Smith is able to use her expertise in rhetoric appeal to capture the attention of the audience and bring out their emotions through first-hand accounts of living with an eating disorder. Smith is then able to push her argument over the top through the use of statistics to back up her claim. These statistics do a great job in displaying the lack of Americans diagnosed with anorexia nervosa due to their weight, as well as she shows how they suffer similar symptoms. While eating disorders may not be that prevalent in the world around us, it is important that these harsh stigmas are put to rest so everyone can be treated the same. If weight doesn’t stop people from doing what they love, it shouldn’t stop them from getting the treatment they deserve.