*Trigger warning: Out of concern for readers, I respectfully ask that you please do not read on if you are prone to be triggered by eating and health or body-related themes.*
I urge you to read the article http://www.returnofkings.com/21313/5-reasons-to-date-a-girl-with-an-eating-disorder to which my article is a response to, if for no other reason than to recognize that there are unfortunately people with such complexly distorted views that they feel the need to infiltrate the blessing/curse that is the internet and as a result – the rest of us have to be subjected to their senseless, deranged opinions.
If the title “5 Reasons to Date a Girl with an Eating Disorder,” doesn’t get your blood boiling, I’m sure that what the delusional asinine author had to say about those suffering from crippling eating disorders will certainly do the trick.
One particularly upsetting excerpt is as follows:
While they may have a “distorted body image” on the inside, that usually means staying trim and fit on the outside. Let’s not forget that fatties too, in the majority of cases, have a “distorted body image,” but in the unattractive direction.
This author is clearly disturbed, evident by his complete disregard for the seriousness that comprises the world of eating disordered behaviors. His disgusting descriptions go on to harp on the “benefits” of dating a girl suffering from an eating disorder, such as her being a cheap date. I wish I was kidding.
Multiple times while reading this, I had to pause to reassess if this was in fact a sick joke, but after further investigation into the misogynistic mission of this online community, my fear that this was an actual article (expressing the perspective of an actual member of society) sank in. Proclaiming themselves the “Return of Kings,” (don’t even get me started) an objective of their site is as follows:
ROK aims to usher the return of the masculine man in a world where masculinity is being increasingly punished and shamed in favor of creating an androgynous and politically-correct society that allows women to assert superiority and control over men.
Politcal-correctness? Imagine the atrocity… why it is 2013, how dare women demand equal rights and respect. The glass ceiling? That must be some sort of chandelier or newfangled piece of furniture women dust off at the end of their tidying up before taking the dinner out of the oven for their hard working husbands.
These men are examples of the type of backwards thinkers that not only perpetuate the polarization and stigma that those suffering from eating disorders hold on to, but the minds that prevent progress from being made in all capacities of life for women.
I can only hope that the types of grown adults who vocalize such impossibly damaging mentalities aren’t able to expose their beliefs to younger, more influential generations… however sadly their access to wi-fi and their shocking basic understanding of the internet as a tool suggests otherwise to me.
As an individual who holds the value of self-respect, and self-confidence close to my heart, it is beyond disappointing and alarming to read such shameless insensitivity from a group of grown “men” who believe a woman’s value is determined by quote: fertility and beauty. (Because we just leave intelligence, resourcefulness, and character to the men. We wouldn’t possibly know how to handle such things anyhow – unless those are terms for fancy new kitchen appliances?)
For anyone else who wishes to restrict and combat online body shaming, and if you yourself are battling an eating disorder and are seeking positive, healthy guidance, I encourage you to sign my petition to stop the spreading of “Thinspiration” and/or contact a help line, such as this one.
Know that you are beautiful, and that your value is not measurable by the size on the tag of your jeans.