I have been reading an incredible book called 'Perfect girls, starving Daughters' which is essentially about young women in today's society and the issues they face - however it has made me extremely aware of the forgotten 'in betweeners' - the young women who don't necessarily have diagnosable eating disorders but do find it hard to look in the mirror every day, those who do not starve themselves but watch what they eat constantly - those who compare themselves with others all the time.....
I think perhaps it is a continuum rather than you have an eating disorder and you do not (although the clear diagnosis is necessary for treatment).
A continuum which goes from
A healthy view of appearance, food and weight
All the way to
Starving or purging to decrease weight or binging to increase weight.
does this come from an inner hunger for love and attachment - i think in part yes and i think it also comes in part from society impressing on young women that they need to be everything - they must be gorgeous, clever, good at sports or music or art or maths or all of these and more - there seems to be an increasing pressure to be 'Perfect' - but this is unachievable and perhaps trying is futile - we get very frstrated at waiting 10 minutes for a bus or train because it is a waste of time but we are willing to spend at least that or more on fussing what to eat, what to wear, how we should look for friends, the 'boy' or our family - and why - because our appearance often dictates how we feel and our confidence in a given situation - we do not want to feel out of place but surely our humour, intellect and our individual presonalities can go above and beyond what we look like?
I definately do not have all the answers and this is a place for me to ramble and just bring up things that interest me - share your views - leave a message or send an email - beautycocoon@gmail.com
for now
BC xxxx
