Feminism | Posted by Gina S on 04/2/2012
The Flip Side of the Coin, or Just Because I’m Skinny Doesn’t Mean I Have An Eating Disorder
It’s a common presumption in our society that if you’re female, tall and skinny, you have it all. You are the perfect woman: you have the attributes of a high fashion model, and you should be extremely self-confident because you have it made. The truth, however, is much different.
When I was younger, I was bullied for five years because of my height and weight. “Oh they’re just jealous because you’re tall and skinny,” my well-meaning family members would say. “They just want to be like you.” But they didn’t want to be like me, because I was miserable beyond belief and the bullying was making me pick out tiny little things about myself that I hated. One by one, I listed off all the many things I hated about …
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Feminism | Posted by Chelsea B on 05/25/2011
Fat Is Not A Personality Trait
It sickens me that one of the most common issues plaguing young females today is that of body image distortion.
I say this as a person who once hated her body so much she welcomed the idea of going to extremes to obtain perfection. Whether it was by starving, purging, or over-exercising, if it “guaranteed” perfection, I would do it. It never occurred to me that the perfection I had in mind would never be obtainable. Nor did I realize that recovery would be a life-long struggle to relearn what it felt like to be full.
A year ago, I decided it was time that self-loathing relinquished its firm grip on my life. I did not consult a psychologist because I thought of my recovery as a journey I would …
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Feminism | Posted by Rose M on 10/18/2010
Anorexia and Bulimia In Our Culture: Unspoken Questions
There isn’t exactly a “name” for this topic so, here, i’ll try to spell it out for you. It’s a topic that affects me personally and deeply, but also something that is very rarely talked about in the eating disorder community (both on blogs & in treatment or with mental health professionals, and even with friends). Is Anorexia Nervosa a more serious, deadly, scary, real, or traumatic illness than Bulimia Nervosa or ED-NOS?
I’d be interested in what people’s gut-reactions are to this question.
I don’t mean the well-formulated answers that people think of, I mean the feeling that comes, the spark of thought that enters the brain or heart when this question is posed. (or when it is presented to your face- is there an image that comes to mind …
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Awareness, Feminism | Posted by Julie Z on 02/25/2010
National Eating Disorder Awareness Week
No, the title of this post is not the most uplifting thought in the world. But it’s an issue that’s plaguing my peers and isn’t going away any time soon. Scratch that, it’s not just an issue, or something that haunts insecure teenagers with nothing better to think about than themselves. Eating disorders are life threatening illnesses caused by dangerous pressures and behaviors that need to be addressed.
I see this every day at my school in a vast spectrum of ways. I saw it just the other day in the bathroom at school (such a cliche but shit seriously does go down in the bathroom…). This girl that I don’t know very well came up beside me at the mirror. She’s a talented athlete and somebody I considered, at …
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