Earlier this month marked the end of Eating Disorder Awareness Week, and there is so much about the topic to be unpacked. From Feb. 26 to March 3, organizations across the country used the week as an opportunity to talk about eating disorders, prevention, and treatment.
The overall concept aims to bring attention to and share information that will help us as individuals better understand the harm that comes with having an eating disorder. A lot of people have fallen victim to unhealthy diets to try to have their “dream body.” Many “supermodel” diets have come out that promote eating little food and lots of exercise. These diets will give you your desired look, but they are not healthy and may develop into an eating disorder. There really is no “healthy” way to be Kate Moss skinny, unless you are already Kate Moss.
Here at Temple University, there is a student organization titled Project Heal. Project Heal is a nationwide chapter aiming to create funding for those seeking treatment for their eating disorder. A common misconception surrounding people who suffer from disordered eating is that they belong to a certain archetype, being white, young, and female. It’s important to raise awareness to the marginalized groups that are not typically mentioned when you think about who can have an eating disorder. Anyone apart of any ethnicity, gender, and age group can be struggling with it.
The theme of this 2024 EDAW is “Community. Let the community be your compass.” The idea of community can be relative to anything, friends and family. But in the media age, oftentimes our community can be online.
Through promoting community and friendship oftentimes people connect on different problems that they face through social media, oftentimes feeling seen and heard in these communities. Lots of stories come out about how somebody has a rare disorder and meets other people like them on subreddits or other social media. No one deserves to feel alone when they are struggling, so building community is important.
Well aware of the effects of social media, from the heavily edited photos to the amplification of diet culture, it is difficult to be mindful. Always keep in mind when spending time relaxing on social media that not everything you see is true, and most things have been curated to fit according to societal standards of beauty. In the media, eating disorders have been centered around modeling, disguised as this standard that needs to be met, and have also been the punchline of jokes towards women. Both are unfair and disrespectful towards the illness and take away from the experiences people go through.
Recently, musician and actress Renee Rapp has come forward to talk about her experience, she has suffered from an eating disorder since she was 10 years old. Her early beginnings on Broadway, she talks about her experiences with being labeled a “curvy woman” at 19 years old, when her character, Regina George of “Mean Girls” is constantly watching her weight.
Last year, at the 2023 Teen Vogue Summit, Rapp spoke out about people on social media commenting on her body. She needed to call attention to how she experiences people commenting on her body at a privileged level because she is a celebrity, but this does not make it any less painful to experience. “I’m not going to sit here and say I am doing great with it. It hurts my feelings and it’s harmful, it’s disgusting.”
There has been a lot of discourse surrounding the fact that Rapp had to speak up about this, to begin with. People who have the perspective that Rapp is perfectly healthy and beautiful, and if she is “fat”, then what does that make them? The discussion surrounding her body has created a harmful and toxic conversation of individuals comparing themselves to Rapp and created an idea of body dissatisfaction among them.
It’s difficult for a celebrity to come forward and talk about their struggles being in the public eye while already being confronted with criticism for just existing. Celebrities are expected to be flawless and set a beauty standard. When celebrities talk about their issues publicly, people are surprised because they were expecting their celebrity idol to be nothing but perfect.
A similar type of backlash was given to Billie Eilish in 2021. Many people on the internet criticized her body. In a Vanity Fair interview, Eilish spoke up against comments about her weight by explaining she has always looked like this; this was just the first time the internet was seeing her skin because her outfits were typically very baggy and hid most of her figure. “The only reason I did it was ’cause I hated my body,” she said about wardrobe choices. After this event, Eilish emphasized that she wishes all her fans comfort in their own body and that if anything she could be a representation of what a real body looks like.
Putting your vulnerabilities online might sometimes face backlash, but it’s so important for celebrities like Renee Rapp and Billie Eilish to speak out. Spreading awareness, especially people with status, about humans just being human is important. Creating this idea that all bodies are simply just bodies will healthily help further movement. The way social media and celebrities interact with it with topics like body image and eating habits is important to their audience, and especially their haters to show that they are above this and are aiming to create a safe space.