I am a woman, therefore I feel these things. Because I am a woman, it's status quo. Why is that ok? Why is that normal? Why is that accepted?
It's a terrible thing; it's miserable to feel like you have to analyze every morsel of food that crosses your lips. But this is the way most women in America, and in the world increasingly, operate on a daily basis. We've made ourselves sick, not only physically, but mentally. Did you know that bulimia has the top mortality rate among mental illnesses?
How we fix this, I don't know. I can't even fix myself, much less a nationwide epidemic. But I do know that girls like the one in this video will continue to suffer and die unless we as a country begin to recognize this as a real issue, a real disease, and work to remove the stigma associated with bulimia and anorexia and with "fat" in general.
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I'm with you - I know I'm not fat. Yet I find myself subconsciously counting calories and analyzing what I've eaten each day. I don't know why that's so ingrained in me...and so many other women. But I wish we could all just stop and accept ourselves the way we are.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree. We can obsess about food and forget that we're meant to enjoy eating - it's not just a means to an end.
ReplyDeleteGeneen Roth's new book, Women, Food, and God does a good job of offering a different view. I'm with you - it's a huge cultural wound.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a tragedy. Being the mother of two daughters, one that flirted with an eating disorder, we must fight the war being waged against women in this culture. In many cultures. It is simply imperative.
ReplyDeleteI know people who have actually dieted themselves fat, by screwing up their metabolisms. As long as the "role models" for girls are skinny (i.e., Hollywood actresses, models, singers...) there is not much we can do about this nonsense. Food is a powerful drug, and good, healthy, whole food is what makes a woman beautiful, not starving herself from it. That's the message we need to get out to these girls.
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
A. I LOVE Mitch Headberg (RIP) and quote him constantly so that is the best complement that you think I remind you of him. Thank you so much! B. Listen I am scrawny and lanky but I too feel that food guilt as I eat a tray of brownies (don't judge) that oh my god this has to be awful for me. Shutting off your brain is tough to do!
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