Sticking to the vernacular.
Paul Campos says it all:
This girl has already learned two ignoble truths about appearance in our culture: That, as a woman, nothing she accomplishes will ever be considered as important as how she looks, and that the conventional definition of feminine beauty in our culture is both extraordinarily narrow and radically different from what most women look like.”
Speaking of eating disorders, I would like to point to an article that essentially promotes a Health At Every Size approach to dealing with eating disorders prevention and “obesity”, without actually calling it HAES. Why not? Probably because Neumark-Sztainer is savvy enough to realize that HAES and fat acceptance are concepts so unacceptable to conventional health establishment dogma that it’s effectively a form of professional self-immolation to discuss them in mixed company. Sometimes it is safer to stick to the vernacular, and you know what? I’m fine with that, if it gets the fucking job done.
Filed under: eating disorders, femaleness, health at every size, heroes | 3 Comments
Thanks for this link. I think the doctor is doing some fine research in an area otherwise void of research.
Very interesting. I think more research like this needs to be done, and then the results need to be widely published.
I’m glad you’re both interested — when I was bumming around on PubMed I found several really interesting things by that same author, Neumark-Sztainer, so I’m keeping my eye on her. This kind of thing is where I see HAES having a large effect, at least in health care — if people can be convinced that we’re doing something that will address “the obesity epidemic!!!!” (but which, they may not realize, is not the traditional weight loss intervention that has failed and failed and failed and failed) that also happens to be good for eating disorders prevention/treatment at the same time, then it’s a win-win as far as I’m concerned.
Frances Berg was always saying that whenever she would ask, “So when are we going to address, you know, DEVASTATING AND LIFE-THREATENING EATING DISORDERS?” she would be told, “Oh, after we cure obesity first. Then we’ll get to it.” Unfortunately, that leaves us waiting, what, forever? Maybe this kind of approach is a work-around.