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Anorexia: Crap illness, great metaphor
As a teenager, the actress Celia Imrie suffered from anorexia. Years later, in an interview with the Telegraph, she expresses regret at what she put her mother through: I’m so angry with myself for...
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Closer magazine: The world’s worst post-ED clinic “treat” ever
So yesterday, 18 months after I decided to go for treatment, I finally attended my first “proper” session at the eating disorders clinic. It went well and I feel positive about it. Therefore, once it...
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Eating disorders: Some thoughts on being de-programmed
Yesterday I found myself in a room with a woman who was telling me that it was permissible to eat. She also told me that it was permissible to put on weight, and permissible to grow as you age, and...
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Bump painting: Gimmick or potential pro-choice statement?
Until this week, I didn’t realise bump painting – having one’s heavily pregnant belly decorated by a professional face painter – was “a thing”. I knew about those plaster casts some women get made, and...
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Bringing up Hilary Mantel’s body
In 2004 Hilary Mantel wrote a piece for the LRB on saints, fasting girls and modern-day anorexia. I read it back then and was not overly impressed (when it comes to disagreeing with Mantel pieces in...
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Louise Mensch’s Unfashionista: A missed opportunity for un-learning
Every now and then, fashion-y types decide that the most fashionable thing ever is to pretend to be anti-fashion. Witness, for instance, the so-called “anti-fashion” movement of the 1990s (which, from...
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Anti-feminist, transphobic, just plain nasty: I think I’ve just found the...
People, behold! For I have made a great discovery. I have in my hands this very minute the worst diet book EVER! <dramatic pause> Now admittedly, I’ve not read all the other diet books available....
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A brief guide to baby bumps
Baby bump: a stomach swollen to beyond its usual size due to the presence of a fetus. Precise size of bump will vary, dependent on age of fetus, genetic heritage of stomach owner and sheer bloody...
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On Dove, shampoo and self-esteem
This evening I am the parody of a spoilt middle-class feminist who can’t stop herself from getting in a tizz about relatively minor stuff. Oh yes, I am in a strop about a hair care advert. And yes, I...
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Here’s what’s really wrong with Holly Willoughby’s “dress”
When I first heard that the BBC had apologised for a “revealing” dress worn by a female presenter before 9pm, I felt extremely annoyed. What kind of world is this? Of all the things one could complain...
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Bikini bridges and thigh gaps: On eating disorder concern trolling
This evening I found out what a bikini bridge is. I wasn’t seeking out this knowledge; I was reading the news and it popped out at me, unbidden. The trouble is, now I can’t ever un-know it (to give you...
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Almost Famous, real women and the normalisation of self-hate
I wish I wasn’t pear-shaped. My nose is too fat. Laxatives are definitely the answer. Why can’t I be thinner? Does all this sound familiar? If you’re a woman, it should. While these statements were...
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Eloise Parry was not stupid
“I am so sorry for being so stupid.“ Eloise Parry wrote these words in a text to her tutors, hours before she died of an overdose of the diet pill DNP, following an all-night binge-and-purge session....
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The Pool: Instagram “fit moms” aren’t the problem – policing pregnant bodies is
Performing motherhood, you soon discover, involves positioning yourself at extremes. If you can’t be perfect, you must excel at ineptitude. Just bumbling along in the middle, being “good enough,”...
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The Pool: Getting older doesn’t necessarily mean getting wiser about body image
The last time I was ID’d when buying alcohol I was 32 years old. This may not sound too bad, except before I’d had the chance to respond, the cashier looked up and said “actually, it’s alright – I just...
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New Statesman: Anorexia, breast-binding and the legitimisation of body hatred
In 1987 I underwent the first of three hospitalisations for anorexia. I was force-fed via a nasogastric tube. This led me to gain a significant amount of weight, which I hated. Furthermore, it made my...
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