"Drunkorexia," a term coined by the media to describe habitually starving oneself or vomiting to offset the calories ingested by drinking, has been pounced on by mainstream media outlets such as The Today Show and the New York Times as yet another symptom of today's troubled youth.
This newest epidemic is a prime example of the media creating a topic and then sensationalizing it to attract an audience via moral panic. Recall other so-called social ills conjured by the media in recent years, like the infamous "rainbow party" scare. Media outlets across the nation warned of parties in which young women would supposedly apply different colored lipsticks and shamelessly perform oral sex on various males, who competed to rack up as many colors as possible.
What these topics have in common is that they were touted by the media as indicators of the recklessness and danger that supposedly define contemporary youth - specifically girls - with no scientific or statistical bases.
What these topics have in common is that they were touted by the media as indicators of the recklessness and danger that supposedly define contemporary youth - specifically girls - with no scientific or statistical bases.
