I applaud Tamar Lerer’s piece “Something to Chew On,” published on September 11th. Lerer’s column addresses a subject that has been grossly neglected by the Swarthmore community. Almost no one on campus openly discusses body image and eating disorders, which serves to further push the subject into the shadows and stigmatize those who deserve the help and support they need to eat healthily and accept their bodies.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
My one concern with Lerer’s piece is that it serves to further the myth that eating disorders and body image exclusively affect self-identified women. By writing that “college-aged females” are concerned with body image, Lerer neglects to appreciate that many men struggle with this issue as well. By most estimates, as many as 10% of anorexics and 15% of bulimics are male, and the numbers may in fact be higher, since there is tremendous stigma against men who admit to having an eating disorder. Although standards of beauty are far different for men and women (and this should be taken into account), any discussion of eating disorders at Swarthmore should include men as well as women. Nevertheless, Lerer makes an important point about an issue that has been ignored for far too long at this school. We as a community need to talk more about body image.
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April 26, 2012
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