There Are More Than One Kind Of Disorder In The World Of Celebrities With Eating Disorders
They are the butt of countless jibes and satirical pop culture references, but there's no doubt that a lot of celebrities, especially the females one, find their dieting practices fueled by the same driven personality traits that enable them to rise to the top of their craft.
This understandable, if unfortunate, fact of life, though, is all too often absurdly demonized by certain people who want to lay blame at the feet of the mass media and its unholy influence on people's lives. In addition to the platitudes about showbiz glitz, the other supposed villain of the piece is the alleged puerile consumerism of the unwashed public who consume those media images. These patronizing assessments though cloud over more than they reveal; everything in the lives of successful film actors, singers, or other media celebrities is subjected to the drive and ambition which allows them to achieve their professional success.
It should hardly be surprising then that once they turn their attention to weight loss, they can get a little carried away. Christina Ricci, in her usual irreverent style, suggests this personality driven aspect of celebrity eating disorders with her remark to the Guardian newspaper in 2004 that hers began while watching trash television. "At the time that I was starting to diet and stuff, I saw this TV movie, and I thought, 'Ooh - anorexia. I could probably do that.'"
Others, such as Ginger Spice, Geri Halliwell, acknowledge that the source of eating disorders is often in dealing with the highs and lows and pressures of daily life. Being a celebrity may or may not increase the pressure, but it doesn't dictate the particular coping strategy adopted.
This media and celebrity bashing silliness became painfully apparent in the backlash against the ironic tweet of the always engaging Lady Gaga, from 2012. Typical of the victimizing machine of the self-appointed morals police, Lady Gaga was attacked for publicly acknowledging that she was resisting the temptation to eat a cheese burger. Really, you can't make this up. Young girls, it would seem, are just trembling bowls of pliable jelly, ever at risk of succumbing to the corrupting influence of celebrity self-deprivation. Even Lady Gaga, it would seem, as irony would have it, despite already having come out and publicly urged her young fans to work on developing better, healthier body image, had to be persecuted. She couldn't acknowledge resisting this cheese burger craving without the self-appointed nannies making a federal case out it. (And, anyway, how the heck is a cheese burger a healthy meal choice? Is that really what they want their daughter's eating?)
So let's try to be real, here. If they're going to crucify a celebrity who it just so happens, by the way, is already on the public record as cautioning her young fans toward vigilance against potential dangers of eating disorders for an innocent witticism regarding her own freely chosen dietary decisions, what is up? Why this strange obsession with denying celebrities the freedom to be responsible for their choices. There's an uncompromising imperative that they be shown to be victims. I'm no mind reader, but I'm guessing the motivation behind this silliness is to legitimize the automatic treatment of any and all admirers of those same celebrities as also victims. Who though reaps the benefits from this relentless victimization?
Obviously the lesson here is not that only celebrities need worry about eating disorders, but rather that such disorders are a product of the determination and resilience of the individual experiencing it. Of course environmental conditions can create relevant pressures, but at the end of the day the bulimic or anorectic are the ones who are making the choices to conduct themselves in the way that they are.
Those who decry such a statement as a shameful "blaming of the victim" need to look more closely at the implications of their own pervasive victimization strategy. In any event, if the celebrities with eating disorders really were the victims of Hollywood and the mass media,, the only cure would be to permanently leave showbiz. The great number of celebrities, who beat their disorders, without retiring from the business, illustrates an important point. The cause of the eating disorder lies in the celebrity, but equally as important so too does the solution. If the busy bodies were more concerned with personal empowerment and responsibility than vilification of the media and victimization of its supposed casualties, they would recognize this as good news. Everyone who suffers eating disorders, whatever the stresses of their personal life, have a reservoir of strength upon which to draw. The very determination and discipline that you so strictly harness to enforce your unhealthy dietary regime is likewise always there in you, a reservoir of strength, to draw upon, to change your life. It only takes your willingness to access it.
Is that not encouraging, exciting, even exhilarating? Stop letting others cast you as the victim of your life. It's your life; you're the star and the writer. How you live your life is up to you. Reject simplistic excuses about mass media pressures and social expectations. You have the power to take responsibility for your life. Be the celebrity star of your own story.
This understandable, if unfortunate, fact of life, though, is all too often absurdly demonized by certain people who want to lay blame at the feet of the mass media and its unholy influence on people's lives. In addition to the platitudes about showbiz glitz, the other supposed villain of the piece is the alleged puerile consumerism of the unwashed public who consume those media images. These patronizing assessments though cloud over more than they reveal; everything in the lives of successful film actors, singers, or other media celebrities is subjected to the drive and ambition which allows them to achieve their professional success.
It should hardly be surprising then that once they turn their attention to weight loss, they can get a little carried away. Christina Ricci, in her usual irreverent style, suggests this personality driven aspect of celebrity eating disorders with her remark to the Guardian newspaper in 2004 that hers began while watching trash television. "At the time that I was starting to diet and stuff, I saw this TV movie, and I thought, 'Ooh - anorexia. I could probably do that.'"
Others, such as Ginger Spice, Geri Halliwell, acknowledge that the source of eating disorders is often in dealing with the highs and lows and pressures of daily life. Being a celebrity may or may not increase the pressure, but it doesn't dictate the particular coping strategy adopted.
This media and celebrity bashing silliness became painfully apparent in the backlash against the ironic tweet of the always engaging Lady Gaga, from 2012. Typical of the victimizing machine of the self-appointed morals police, Lady Gaga was attacked for publicly acknowledging that she was resisting the temptation to eat a cheese burger. Really, you can't make this up. Young girls, it would seem, are just trembling bowls of pliable jelly, ever at risk of succumbing to the corrupting influence of celebrity self-deprivation. Even Lady Gaga, it would seem, as irony would have it, despite already having come out and publicly urged her young fans to work on developing better, healthier body image, had to be persecuted. She couldn't acknowledge resisting this cheese burger craving without the self-appointed nannies making a federal case out it. (And, anyway, how the heck is a cheese burger a healthy meal choice? Is that really what they want their daughter's eating?)
So let's try to be real, here. If they're going to crucify a celebrity who it just so happens, by the way, is already on the public record as cautioning her young fans toward vigilance against potential dangers of eating disorders for an innocent witticism regarding her own freely chosen dietary decisions, what is up? Why this strange obsession with denying celebrities the freedom to be responsible for their choices. There's an uncompromising imperative that they be shown to be victims. I'm no mind reader, but I'm guessing the motivation behind this silliness is to legitimize the automatic treatment of any and all admirers of those same celebrities as also victims. Who though reaps the benefits from this relentless victimization?
Obviously the lesson here is not that only celebrities need worry about eating disorders, but rather that such disorders are a product of the determination and resilience of the individual experiencing it. Of course environmental conditions can create relevant pressures, but at the end of the day the bulimic or anorectic are the ones who are making the choices to conduct themselves in the way that they are.
Those who decry such a statement as a shameful "blaming of the victim" need to look more closely at the implications of their own pervasive victimization strategy. In any event, if the celebrities with eating disorders really were the victims of Hollywood and the mass media,, the only cure would be to permanently leave showbiz. The great number of celebrities, who beat their disorders, without retiring from the business, illustrates an important point. The cause of the eating disorder lies in the celebrity, but equally as important so too does the solution. If the busy bodies were more concerned with personal empowerment and responsibility than vilification of the media and victimization of its supposed casualties, they would recognize this as good news. Everyone who suffers eating disorders, whatever the stresses of their personal life, have a reservoir of strength upon which to draw. The very determination and discipline that you so strictly harness to enforce your unhealthy dietary regime is likewise always there in you, a reservoir of strength, to draw upon, to change your life. It only takes your willingness to access it.
Is that not encouraging, exciting, even exhilarating? Stop letting others cast you as the victim of your life. It's your life; you're the star and the writer. How you live your life is up to you. Reject simplistic excuses about mass media pressures and social expectations. You have the power to take responsibility for your life. Be the celebrity star of your own story.
About the Author:
Check out Mickey Jhonny's other great work at the Celebrities with Eating Disorders blog.
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