An open invitation to productive conversations about feminism and the spectrum of eating disorders (part 2): Potential contributions to the science of diagnosis, treatment, and prevention

Abstract

Plain English summary There continue to be debates about what role, if any, feminism has to play in eating disorders research, treatment, and advocacy. In these debates, we sometimes miss the chance to engage in productive dialogue about what the past and present of feminist eating disorders research, treatment, and prevention can offer—and where it might grow. This article, the second in a series of two papers that invite such a discussion, focuses on five key contributions that feminist eating disorder work has made and can make moving forward. These are: considering treatment in context, attending to lived experiences, thinking about the meaning of “sociocultural influences,” broadening our approaches to doing research, and considering recovery in context. We do not intend this work to offer a “final word” on the role of feminisms for eating disorders. Instead, we want to spark and continue conversations about how we understand, research, and treat eating disorders.