Fifth Post
A response to my last post — how exciting! This comes from my friend Jessica, and it really goes a long way towards giving me a basis for a decent perspective on the topic.
I’d like to throw my two cents in on your observation about women and their attitudes towards other women with eating disorders.
First off — and this is no exaggeration — I’d say almost every single woman/girl/female has come close to unhealthy eating practices, or has at least considered eating patterns that would be considered disordered. The pressure is really unbearable. Even staunch feminists deal with it on a daily basis — you just can’t get away from it.
That said, I think that condescending labels of eating disorders from women applied to other women comes from a place of insecurity. It’s easy to look at someone who is skinnier than you and feel inferior — so, instead of owning up to that, I’ve seen many many women try to knock skinny women down a few notches by using the dismissive defense of “Oh, well, she has an eating disorder or something. Ha.” It’s a defense mechanism, and a way to make it seem like you’re someone above it all. No one wants to admit that they’re feeling threatened and upset at the sight of some model-skinny woman, so they place the blame on her.
You’re right though, it really is upsetting in terms of gender solidarity. One of the results of all this pressure on women is the feeling of being in constant competition with all the women around you.
I think it’s different from athletes who take human growth hormone because that’s a pressure places on a very specific — and relatively small — part of society. Not to say it’s OK, but it’s different.