"Anorexia nervosa exemplifies the arbitrariness inherent in labelling individuals mentally ill. Imposing the medical model upon the events comprising an episode of anorexia is only one of several ways to give meaning to these events"
Dresser, R (1984) "Feeding the
Hunger Artists: Legal Issues in Treating
Anorexia Nervosa",
1984 Wisconsin Law Review 297.
If someone has a cold she probably want to get better. Any
aid she receives will be greeted with open arms, but what if she only appears to be
ill and resists help? Does anyone have a responsibility to force her to get better? What if she claims that she enjoys sneezing and coughing—does anyone have the
responsibility or the right to save her from herself?
In the case of mental disorders this problem is common. The
DSM-IV definition of
anorexia actually includes fierce resistance to treatment as a
symptom.
As someone who has had anorexia and recovered I can’t help but find this a little, well,
circular. In the end I found that my gender and age played a large role in my perceived ability to make choices that might impact my health. In this essay I will attempt to show how the definitions of eating disorders reflect
sexist ideas in our culture.
I am not arguing that eating disorders are “good” –that they are a smart way to loosing weight or that anyone should “try” to have one. I am asking that we re-examine our ways of thinking about disorders and re-consider the possibility that a person may choose to live with an eating disorder. Since recovery is impossible untill the disordered person chooses to want help anyway it stands to reason that remaining disordered may very well be a kind of lifestyle. A smart one? Probably not... but one that can be chosen. (Quick note: there are people with eating disorders who want
very badly to recover and
can’t—this essay concerns those who resist treatment: repeatedly, vehemently and not in such a manner that the resistance is a
veiled plea for help.)
When I was still in the grip of anorexia I would often get in arguments that went something like this:
“I don’t want help,
I’m fine.”
“You don’t want help because you are sick.”
“
I’m not sick, this is how I live my life.”
“An eating disorder can not be a lifestyle choice.”
The matter of choice is at the heart of the
debate over
pro-anorexia websites. I think there are a number of things wrong with this statement. But, let’s dissect it a bit first: What is an
eating disorder anyway? Oddly enough, the disorder, as defined by medical texts seems to encompass a wide range of potentially
self-destructive behaviors that are not even remotely limited to food. Moreover, all of the behaviors are done with the hopes of losing or controlling ones
weight or regulating ones moods.
Some of these behaviors are done by many non-disordered people under other
circumstances. A
fast (for example) is OK for religious reasons, but not for
weight loss (it’s not incidentally
the most effective means of weight loss) A
restrictive diet (within reason) is fine for a person who is asked by their doctor to lose weight but for a person who is a
normal weight or
underweight it is not permitted,
binge eating is accepted during
thanksgiving as a way to
celebrate, but to eat large amounts of food all on your own is not correct, the
Romans (I read) were fond enough of
purging to build rooms for it (don’t know of any modern examples)—but a young woman who dose this is out of line.
The difference between the disordered person and the normal person lies in two areas,
motivation and
degree. Anything taken too far can become a kind of
madness.
This all seems reasonable enough until you look at a similar kind of self destructive behavior and discover that, while the behavior is
frowned upon it is not called a
mental illness when taken to extremes.
I’m talking about extreme
bodybuilding. Many bodybuilders die from
heart failure or compilations from
steroids. Bodybuilding involves modification of the body to an extreme that goes beyond what
nature really expects of us. Even when no steroids are used the
restrictive diets and strenuous training pose a risk.
So why are
eating disorders mental illness, but bodybuilding is just made fun of now and then or ignored? While many
young women have disordered eating patterns only a small number die from
anorexia a year. It’s not an
epidemic… neither are bodybuilding related deaths… what is the difference???
It’s
sex people.
It is far more
disturbing to know that
young women are going to extremes to reach dubious ideals-—young men on the other hand are permitted a certain license of
recklessness by our culture. This places them in greater danger, but it also gives them a greater sense of
responsibility and more room for growth in the area of
self-respect.
For centuries women with
deviant behavior have been called ill rather than be allowed to face the consequences of their choices. At one time a woman who committed
adultery could have been diagnosed with
hysteria. Certainly, women lack a certain amount of
free will, any deviant choices must be the work of an
infection of some kind. Yes, that’s why we took a bite of the
goddamed apple. (or in my case failed to take a bite.)
Temptation weighs heavy on the weak female will, and her soft heart my bend too far when allow
too much freedom.
If women are deviant it’s not their fault, it’s madness. They
can’t help it.
GIVE ME A BREAK.
I think there are two possibilities here: baby men in the same manner that women are babied OR stop calling the choice to go on a never-ending crash diet a “disorder”
(by the way saying that “we can’t help it” makes it very easy for people to stay disordered and “fail” at
recovery because “it won’t let me out” I think this is why most treatment centers for eating disorders have abysmal recovery rates… there is no “it” there’s just you.)
The
pro-anorexia movement is not just compatible with
feminism—it is in and of itself
feminist.
(please note: I know that there are men with eating disorders, and likewise female bodybuilders, I’m talking about large
cultural trends here, and going out on a limb in more than one way. This isn’t a
manifesto—and it’s not
all-inclusive.)