Trends Come and Go; an Eating Disorder is Forever
Written By: Sierra Adams Hashimee
Flashback to the year 2007. The year of the first iPhone, Tumblr has just launched, and the skinny epidemic floods Hollywood. Jessica Alba, Victoria Beckham, and “pre-thic” Rihanna were the body types we as a society reached to achieve. Pro-Ana or pro-anorexia support is easily accessible on Tumblr, celebrities flaunt their quick weight shed and in turn teenage girls and boys equate hunger to happiness. The National Eating Disorder Association states that 9% of the population is affected by an Eating Disorder. With most of these symptoms being active from ages 12-25, it is no wonder that Eating Disorders seem to be a typical part of growing up in the United States.
Now we’re back in the year 2022. Thick thighs and big butts were only the “hot trend” for a decade before the skinny era began to reemerge. Low rise jeans make a comeback, the Kardashian’s shed their BBL’s for petite physiques, and pro Ana has made a reappearance online in the form of cutesy diet challenges on tick tock. As we speed backwards in time towards the trend of collar bones and thigh gaps, I watch around me as everything feels all too familiar, like I have been down this dark road before.
In idolizing celebrities like Bella Hadid for existing while thin, are we creating a new generation of individuals who struggle with their appearance because for some reason it isn’t enough to just be how you were made? Squats or a procedure to get a large butt one year then starving yourself and chain-smoking cigarettes for a gaunt figure the next year; when will we stop letting trends decide our worth?
Eating Disorders come in all shapes and sizes. Symptoms may begin at age 13, but can stay with you for a lifetime. Failure to eat and provide the body with vitamins while it develops is detrimental. Growth, the digestive and nervous system, and the menstrual cycle are all severely affected when not nurtured.
What started as a community on Tumblr that posted aesthetically pleasing photos of thin girls, turned into shared tips on how to lose weight, turned into a lifetime mending a broken relationship with food. Simple acts like packing myself lunch or eating in a group were things I had to relearn properly in adulthood. Food does not and may not ever come naturally to me, and this is mostly due to my less than savory relationship with it during those formative years.
Our bodies are not a trend, it is the one and only vessel to get us through this lifetime, therefore we need to treat it with respect and thank it for everything it achieves. After all, if we are constantly trying to change ourselves to fit the tabloids, how can we be who we are truly meant to be?
We have seen this road before and some of us have wandered down it. Join me this time in lighting the other paths of self love and acceptance to show our youth that these are options.
If you or someone you know is struggling with an eating disorder, you are not alone. Call or text (800) 931-2237 for support, resource, and treatment options.
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