Spring Break
Too-thin celebs endanger youths
National eating disorders awareness week: part 2
Issue date: 2/26/08 Section: Opinions
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After being crowned Miss America on Jan. 26, Kirsten Haglund, 19, confessed to The Associated Press she struggled with anorexia three years ago.
It's been a month since Haglund was crowned, but the issues beneath her confession have continued to trouble me more than a beauty queen with lipstick on her pearly whites.
I'll level with you. I'm not the type of gal who gets her kicks wearing fuzzy pink sweaters, doodling with glitter and watching the Miss America Pageant. Quite frankly, I think the pageant as a whole, is degrading to women, but that's another story for another day.
No, the real problem here is the disturbing trend in placing young starlets and celebrities with eating disorders on a pedestal.
I admire Haglund's courage to stand up and tell the world she once battled anorexia. The girl's got guts.
But her open-book approach to her previous battle with anorexia is a catch-22 of sorts. I'm sure those coping with an eating disorder may be comforted knowing their very own Miss America went through the same issues they are dealing with. But what about the girls who don't have an eating disorder?
Her disclosure reinforces the normalization of eating disorders.
Haglund certainly isn't alone. Tabloid darlings like Lindsey Lohan, Nicole Richie and Angelina Jolie all have been highly covered in news and magazines for either admitting to having an eating disorder or scepticism of them having one.
Popularity and press for celebrities drastically increase when they slim-down a tad too dramatically. It's no small wonder eating disorders are so incredibly rampant in entertainment.
But the Hollywood culture isn't in quarantine. Its trends, good or bad, seep globally, and Athens has no immunity.
I have made more than a few friends here at the University with eating disorders.
I also was granted the opportunity to attend group therapy sessions supporting women with eating disorders, and quickly detected an underlying theme:
Societal expectations and what we consider "normal" greatly contribute to diseases like anorexia.
Never about the food, an eating disorder sheaths deeper problems and cuts to the inner soul of its victim, often debilitating the very will to live.
Don't dismiss it as merely a "weight issue."
I may not believe in pageants, celebrity worship or the glitzy hype of Hollywood. But I do believe in their ability to have a tremendous impact on our daily lives.
If TV, magazines, runways and movies faun over women with anorexia, no doubt young impressionable girls will follow suit.
Heck, even grown women adhere to these trends. Adolescent girls don't stand a chance.
It takes more than one person to create a national trend, and by no means is Haglund responsible for all the people who have eating disorders.
It's up to media outlets, such as fashion magazines, TV and advertising to take a hard look at the messages they're sending.
It's up to us too, as older siblings, parents and mentors to inform rising generations about these false ideas they have about eating disorders.
Eating disorders should not be considered normal, and they certainly should not be cause for juicy scandal in tabloids regarding who has a disorder and who doesn't.
By perpetually putting women in the limelight who have or once had anorexia, the notion that the disease is normal is the message sent to the public.
And yes, Miss America herself, in all of her perfectly coiffed glory, crowns that message.
- Emily Giometti is a senior from Marietta majoring in publication management.
Viewing Comments 1 - 5 of 5
Lisa
posted 2/26/08 @ 12:50 PM EST
Wow what a horrible article. You're basically saying that women with eating disorders should not speak about their struggles but rather keep them inside. (Continued…)
Leslie
posted 2/26/08 @ 3:10 PM EST
I am astonished and disappointed by your article.
What I believe your article misses is that people suffering from eating disorders need a voice, and to be able to talk about their experience. (Continued…)
Tiffany
posted 2/26/08 @ 5:35 PM EST
I won't lie about it- I peruse the front pages of most tabloid magazines, and occasionally entertain myself with Perez Hilton. I'm not sure which tabloids you've been reading lately, but almost none of them are glorifying the starving starlets of Hollywood. (Continued…)
Incredulous
posted 2/26/08 @ 9:47 PM EST
You said: "I also was granted the opportunity to attend group therapy sessions supporting women with eating disorders, and quickly detected an underlying theme:
Societal expectations and what we consider 'normal' greatly contribute to diseases like anorexia. (Continued…)
Laura
posted 3/19/08 @ 12:39 PM EST
This article makes a lot of assumptions. Kirsten tells about her disorder because she wants to spread awareness and share her experience so that people realize how prevalent the issue is. (Continued…)
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