I had a friend named Kelly in college that did things like this and even though she transferred to a different school after our freshman year, the damage was done. I had a full blown eating disorder by sophomore year. I also had another friend, my best friend from high school, who developed an eating disorder in college and I used to look for her pictures on FB every day, using them as fuel for my own ED. The body image stuff is like a highly contagious disease that spreads like wildfire.
I’m sorry you had a Nikki in your life too. It’s disturbing and sad that rather than fighting against these ridiculous standards together, some women find it easier to join in and reinforce them.
I know. And it pains me to think that I probably contributed to someone else's illness along the way too.
Thank you for writing about this. I don't think we talk enough about the ways in which we as women reinforce diet culture to each other; the focus is most heavily on men and the entertainment industry. But even in their absence, we're still selling this to each other. I think that's actually where we as women could enact the most change if we cared to look more closely at the issue.
I had a friend named Kelly in college that did things like this and even though she transferred to a different school after our freshman year, the damage was done. I had a full blown eating disorder by sophomore year. I also had another friend, my best friend from high school, who developed an eating disorder in college and I used to look for her pictures on FB every day, using them as fuel for my own ED. The body image stuff is like a highly contagious disease that spreads like wildfire.
I’m sorry you had a Nikki in your life too. It’s disturbing and sad that rather than fighting against these ridiculous standards together, some women find it easier to join in and reinforce them.
I know. And it pains me to think that I probably contributed to someone else's illness along the way too.
Thank you for writing about this. I don't think we talk enough about the ways in which we as women reinforce diet culture to each other; the focus is most heavily on men and the entertainment industry. But even in their absence, we're still selling this to each other. I think that's actually where we as women could enact the most change if we cared to look more closely at the issue.