Sunday, October 6, 2013

Response to comment

My post does not "imply" that "we" should "look the other way" when we see "anyone" with a "weight problem." My post explicitly states that we are in no position to diagnose weight problems, and we are usually not in a position to do anything about them. Do you really want to go about telling people that they're over- or under-weight? Really? To the extent that anorexics (and bulimics) don't realize that they have a problem, they certainly don't respond well to people trying to tell them. [No, I don't know that from personal experience; I know that because I was a psychology major.]

Obesity and anorexia are both diseases; they are disorders, and they have consequences. I have never argued otherwise on my blog. I have argued that it would better serve the debate about weight to separate the discussion about eating disorders from the discussion about variations in healthy weight. And, especially on the thin side, you are in no position to diagnose someone's weight as an eating disorder. That was essentially what my post was about. That's what Lindy West's post was about. That and the fact that even if you could, you wouldn't be helping by calling someone out, especially in public.

When you say, "go along with their illusion that all is well," who are you to determine that all is not well? I say this--as I pointed out in my original post--as someone who has had three or four friends approach me to let me know they thought I was getting too thin. Who are they to tell me what's "too thin"? And, not to put too fine a point on it, if I did have a problem, their approaching me wouldn't be helpful.

Absolutely I'm offended when people advise me that I'm in harm's way. Do I micromanage what my friends eat and how much they exercise? Do I look over their shoulder and say, "that bacon is going to kill you?"

I can't speak for everyone, and I certainly can't speak for people with actual eating disorders, but I'd like to point out that no one who knows me very well and interacts with me on a regular basis would for a second entertain the thought that I was starving myself in any way. So if you'll just go back to minding your own business, I'm going to have a nice pasta dinner with chocolate for dessert (and wine, of course). And then I'll be back to blog about some other stuff.

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