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EILEEN P. ANDERSON-FYEA COCA-COLA SHAPE: CULTURAL CHANGE, BODY IMAGE,AND EATING DISORDERS IN SAN ANDR ES, BELIZEABSTRACT. Eating disorders have been associated with developing nations undergoing
rapid social transition, including participation in a global market economy and heavy
media exposure. San Andres, Belize, a community with many risk factors associated
with the cross-cultural development of eating disorders, has shown remarkable resistance
to previously documented patterns, despite a local focus on female beauty. Drawing on
longitudinal person-centered ethnography with adolescent girls, this article examines why
this community appears exceptional in light of the literature. First, community beauty
and body image ideals and practices are explicated. Then, a protective ethnopsychology
is proposed as a key mediating factor of the rapid socio-cultural change among young
women. Finally, possible nascent cases of eating disordered behavior are discussed in light
of their unique phenomenology: that is, having to do more with economic opportunity
in the tourism industry and less with personal distress or desire for thinness. Close,
meaning-centered examination of eating and body image practices may aid understanding
and prevention of eating disorders among adolescents undergoing rapid social change in
situations of globalization and immigration.KEY WORDS: body image, eating disorders, Belize, adolescents, globalizationIn San Andr
es,1 Belize, focus on female bodies and beauty is a part of the
fabric of life, as it is in many corners of the world. Rarely does a young woman
walk down the street without some sort of male attention toward her appearance.
In addition to this everyday focus, San Andres boasts a 50-year history of
beauty pageantsa key ritual arena for the negotiation of gender roles, sexuality
and community belongingness that all girls in the relatively small community
have to contend with in some way. Many young women in San Andres enjoy
experimenting with their appearance through carefully dressing, styling their hair,
applying makeup, and modelingadorning oneself and practicing the latest
dance or catwalk moves learned from local pageants or U.S. and Mexican media.
Recently, San Andres has been undergoing tremendous expansion, development,
and increasing dependence on Northern economies and symbolic media due to
a rapidly growing eco-tourism industry. Given this intensity of focus on female
bodies, combined with rapid cultural change over the last two decades, it is initially
surprising that San Andres is...