Two problems emerge when we think about food and nutrition: what am I allowed to eat and what am I not allowed to eat, what hurts me and what does not hurt me? This is where good and evil begins. This is where the distinction between good and evil begins to develop. I believe this begins with eating (Joseph Beuys).

Art for a Science that Makes Sense is for independent research and problem solving. An exhibition of paintings, photos, and scientific information about gender-related myths, stereotypes and eating disorders including findings from an anonymous questionnaire study in Russia. The evidence is that eating disorders are linked to stereotypes that associate superficial anatomical features with distinct personality traits and behaviors. Accordingly, a typical woman is supposed to have less leadership ability than a typical man and to be more sensitive to the needs of others, and girls and women are supposed to eat less than boys and men do. The latest project SINGAPURA CATS shows how unhealthy myths and stereotypes can be for pets too, and how health can be restored.

Bei der Ernährung tauchen sofort zwei Probleme auf: was darf ich essen und was darf ich nicht essen, was schadet mir und was schadet mir nicht? Und da beginnt das Gute und das Böse. Dort beginnt im allerkleinsten Keim die Unterscheidung zwischen Gut und Böse. Das beginnt, glaube ich, beim Essen (Joseph Beuys).

Mit dem Geschlecht einer Person werden typische Eigenschaften und Verhaltensweisen verknüpft: Frauen sollen im Vergleich zu Männern zum Beispiel weniger Führungseigenschaften haben und sich mehr bemühen, verletzte Gefühle von anderen zu besänftigen. Mädchen und Frauen sollen weniger essen als Jungen und Männer. Unsere Forschungsergebnisse bestätigen, dass Essstörungen mit solchen Stereotypen und Vorurteilen zusammenhängen. Ausgestellt werden Bilder,

Gender Identity Development and Bulimic Eating Behavior in Adolescence

Barbara Klingenspor and Daniela Rastetter

Abstract: Bulimic eating disorders are predominantly diagnosed in women. Social-psychological factors, in particular stereotypes that associate gender with specific personality traits, are thought to influence eating behavior and to cause eating disorders. Previous findings suggest that bulimic eating behavior is linked to the suppression of masculine traits. In order to test this hypothesis, discrepancies between the actual and the ideal self were examined as precursors of low self-esteem and bulimic eating behavior in adolescents between the ages of 13 and 20. Data were collected in an anonymous questionnaire study and analyzed with structural equation modeling. The discrepancy between how much they believed to possess masculine traits (actual self) and how much they would like to (ideal self) increased with age in girls in contrast to boys, while the discrepancy with regard to feminine traits decreased in both groups. For both sexes, bulimic eating behavior was related to masculine self-discrepancies indirectly, via self-esteem and dieting.

Keywords: Eating disorders, sex stereotypes, gender identity, identity development, self discrepancies.

Zeitschrift für Sozialpsychologie, 2004, 35, 2, 67-82. © 2004 Verlag Hans Huber

Masculinity and the Sex-Specific Function of Dieting

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Frauen sind in der Kunst und der Wissenschaft unterrepräsentiert, besonders in Führungspositionen.

Essstörungen wie Magersucht und Bulimie treten berwiegend bei Màdchen und Frauen auf.

Sozio-kulturelle Einflsse - Stereotypen und Vorurteile - spielen offensichtlich eine Rolle.

Wissenschaft sollte Erkenntnisse hevorbringen, die nicht die Interessen von bestimmten Gruppen bedienen. Dafr braucht Wissenschaft unabhängige Mittel.

For us to get the science we need, independent research that takes cultural and social variables into account must continue.