By Pamela O'Connor
From the “Anna Rexia” Halloween costume in 2011 to the new
controversial article “5 Reasons to Date a Girl with an Eating Disorder”, it
has been shown that eating disorders are not taken as seriously as they should
be. The costume itself showcases what an anorexic girl’s skeleton would look
like, and was banned from stores. Unfortunately it was brought back, with the
message that it would be funny to dress up as an anorexic on Halloween. Essentially,
this poked fun at a serious mental disorder that can cause long term effects
and sometimes even death.
Interestingly the article is
attracting much more negative feedback than the costume. “5 Reasons to Date a
Girl with an Eating Disorder” was posted on a website named “Return of Kings”
by the author under the pseudo name Truthmosis. He/She starts the article by
saying that eating disorders are luxuries designated for the white, wealthy
girls. He also states that a classic eating disorder can predict a lot of
traits about a woman and these traits end up being desirable to today’s
American man. He also makes a side note to clear up that this article does not
pertain to “fatties with no self-control”, only to girls with anorexia or
bulimia, because they are considered to be the more attractive diseases.
The article then goes on to list
the reasons that a man should date a girl with an eating disorder, insulting
more and more women with every word. He believes that when a woman is fighting
a disease such as anorexia or bulimia, she will improve her overall looks
because she has become so obsessed with them. She will never be fat, and will
care about her clothes and appearance in general, showing his narcissistic and superficial
self in an even more obvious way. Another reason he states is that she will cost
less money, meaning you can bring her to nice, expensive restaurants and only
spend a minimal amount. This is because she will only order dishes such as a
side salad, or whatever communal food you order, so sometimes you can even
finish off her plate if you would like. This unfortunately encourages the
disease, instead of trying to help the person you are dating to be happier and
healthier and to value her for who she is and not only what she looks like.
Another
advantage according to Truthmosis is a girl’s low self-esteem. He considers it
a good thing that she will be vulnerable and thinks too many women have a high
level of confidence for no reason. He mistakenly believes these women will
apologize more readily and will be modest, craving nothing more than your
approval. And since this article states that eating disorders are only for the
wealthy, he assumes that these girls have their own money, which will enable
them to pay for things or buy you gifts. Truthmosis ends this article by saying
that girls with eating disorders will also be better in bed, because according
to the author, girls considered “crazy” make better partners in bed.
Petitions
have been written and people have more than shared their opinions about this
outrageous article. Eating disorders, in any form, are a serious mental illnesses
and affect the person as well as those around them, negatively. Nothing about
their suffering is positive or fun. These diseases are not to be made fun of
but are to be helped and healed. Authors like this make it harder to see the
danger of these illnesses and instead turn them into a joke or dating game. It
is sad that such uninformed negative opinions exist and even worse, that they give
people distorted inaccurate information. Such irresponsible opinions can be
taken seriously by mentally ill patients and can have a negative effect on ones
struggling with this disease.
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