Donald DeMarco

In the viewpoint that follows, Donald DeMarco disputes claims made by prominent feminists that approximately 150,000 women die each year of anorexia. A more accurate assessment, he argues, places the approximate number of women who die of anorexia at fifty-four per year. DeMarco contends that feminists exaggerate the problem of eating disorders as a means of supporting their claim that women are the victims of a misogynistic culture that objectifies female bodies. DeMarco is a professor of philosophy at St. Jerome’s University in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, the author of seventeen books, and a member of the American Bioethics Advisory Commission.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. What do women who study eating disorders hope to demonstrate, as stated by Joan Brumberg and quoted by the author"

2. How does DeMarco support...