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Abstract
The increasing prevalence of eating disorders has motivated a burgeoning of research from narrative methods to illuminate the cultural and social aspects of disordered eating habits. A seemingly new eating disorder, Orthorexia Nervosa, has gained visibility through the internet sphere and popular media, though scholarly attention has been scarce. This study develops qualitative understandings of the fixation with ‘clean eating’ through narrative inquiry by employing an internet ethnographic approach. Data were analysed using a thematic narrative analysis, focusing on parallels and divergences across narratives presented online. This article presents 30 male and female voices, illustrating how these individuals understand their eating habits through narratives of pursuit, resistance and recovery, which are largely motivated by the desire for physical, emotional and social change. Crucially, this study illuminates a range of cultural elements enabling eating disorders in response to the transmission of cultural values online set within the broader context and processes of reflexive-modernisation.
Notes
1. Nandy (Citation1988) argues scientific hegemony is based on two Baconian assumptions ‘(1) the positive sciences yield absolute truths and (2) the western hegemony in science and/or life is inevitable, for the hegemony is ultimately based on Baconian truths about the natural world and on Baconian methods of reaching these truths.’
2. However, it is important to note that individuals may progress through different narratives throughout life (Frank Citation1995).