Amelia Tait, a writer for VICE, recently opened up about her own personal history with an eating disorder and shares how for her the battle with her weight and food was unrelated to the Barbie dolls she grew up playing with or the models in the magazines she used to read; a unique stance in today's society. In the thought-provoking article "My Eating Disorder Had Nothing To Do With Barbie or the Media", she interviews others with anorexia, who developed disordered eating behaviours not necessarily because of media influence, but because of other mental illnesses like depression, anxiety, and OCD, and because these behaviours provided a way to seek relief from stress and gain a sense of control over their lives.
"It is pretty obvious that the media does perpetuate unrealistic body standards. The most common example is that, if Barbie were real, she'd have no liver and walk on all fours, but the question is: does it matter? The implication is that unrealistic body standards lead to eating disorders, which is an argument I believe reduces a severe mental illness to a vain aspiration to be a runway model—something I have never personally aspired to.
'A lot of people don't see eating disorders as actual illnesses," Carrie Arnold, a 34-year-old freelance science writer, author, and recovered anorexic tells me. 'They see them as choices. And thinking that eating disorders are caused by images of thin models really serves to drive home the point that they're all about vanity.'"
"It is pretty obvious that the media does perpetuate unrealistic body standards. The most common example is that, if Barbie were real, she'd have no liver and walk on all fours, but the question is: does it matter? The implication is that unrealistic body standards lead to eating disorders, which is an argument I believe reduces a severe mental illness to a vain aspiration to be a runway model—something I have never personally aspired to.
'A lot of people don't see eating disorders as actual illnesses," Carrie Arnold, a 34-year-old freelance science writer, author, and recovered anorexic tells me. 'They see them as choices. And thinking that eating disorders are caused by images of thin models really serves to drive home the point that they're all about vanity.'"
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