Abstract

The intertwining meaning of gender and embodiment in women diagnosed with anorexia nervosa was derived from first-person interview reports of their life experience and the completion of the Bem Sex Role Inventory . Six female participants between the ages of nineteen and twenty-nine were interviewed . A semi-structured interview format using an open-ended question framework was used in conformity with commonly accepted phenomenological data collection procedures. Each interview was completed in person and lasted approximately one and one-half to two hours. Each interview was audio taped and transcribed verbatim with the final result being a typed protocol for each participant. ;The data analysis phase started with the epoche, the preliminary phase when presumptions, prejudices, preconceptions, and judgments were bracketed, or set aside. The next step was a careful and methodical reading of each individual protocol, noting the natural transitions in meaning. Keeping in mind the relation to the whole, each meaning unit was then analyzed separately, the results of which produced recurring themes. The individual descriptions, thematic results, and the standard BSRI scores were provided to all the participants for verification. An additional coder, familiar with the phenomenological research methodology, performed validation of approximately 16% of randomly chosen transcripts. Participant feedback was incorporated into the study results. ;Seven themes emerged from the data. These were: the importance of others' perceptions; negative self-esteem; perceptions of the feminine body; perceptions of the feminine role; the role of anorexia in a woman's life; the importance of intervention and gaining information about anorexia; and changed perceptions and hopes for a new life. ;The essential new findings in this study are a greater, polyvocal depth of knowledge about the meaning of the body and gender in anorexic women's actual experience, paramount for women who are anorexic and for those clinicians who work with anorexic women. Furthermore, study data indicate that adherence to traditional gender roles may have little to do with the development or experience of anorexia nervosa, but that negative cultural and personal perceptions of the traditional feminine role and the female body may contribute to anorexic behavior. Further study of the correlation between the devaluing of traditional feminine role characteristics, the female body, and the development of problematic eating behavior is warranted