Sharlene Hesse-Biber, author of The Cult of Thinness, spoke Wednesday night at Wirtz Hall Auditorium about the commercialization of thinness in the western culture and how it’s spreading into other parts of the world.

Hesse-Biber calls this trend the “cult of thinness.” She said eating disorders are on the rise because of the images seen on television, including commercial print ads and television shows. She has explored the lives of popular media figures, such as Tracey Gold from Growing Pains, Sally Field form Gidget and Ann Margaret, who appeared in several films.

She said that surprisingly there has been an increase in male eating disorders, especially among male athletes.

“Athletes are especially drawn to the use of Ephedra,” Hesse-Biber said. She said Ephedra is the cause of the death for Orioles player Steve Bechler because of his use of Xenadrine, a dietary supplement. Males also are suffering from a disease that Hesse-Biber called “bigorexia.” She said this is a disease men suffer from because they do not feel they are muscular enough. As a result, males become obsessed with taking steroids.

“Bulimia is very common among wrestlers,” she said

Hesse-Biber also said because of the media, young children are also feeding into this “cult.” She said there was a group of pre-school children who were shown pictures of thin and fat individuals. The children said the thinner people were sweet and kind while the heavier people were stupid and lazy.

“When you are in a cult, it is very hard to obtain perspective,” she said.