Grocery shopping last weekend, I saw a girl, twelve or so, with her mother.
The mom was going to put some Nutella in the cart, when the daughter shouted, “Are you trying to kill me? This thing’s gonna get me fat.”
How could a child already obsess over her weight?
She reminded me of one six-year-old girl who warned me about putting ketchup to my fries would make me fat. Nowadays the idea of fatness seems to hunt girls more than before, but we are not even talking about “excessive fatness,” just about the fact of not being skinny.
I know what it was like to live for your weight and to count calories every time you are going to eat something. I was 12-13 years old when I suffered from anorexia.
I wasn’t fat or overweight at all. It was just that for me being ‘normal’ was not good anymore; I wanted to be thinner.
We have reached the point where looks are everything—the way you dress, the way you make your hair, and even the way you walk—appearances are reality these days.
Physical appearance is, of course, very important. I would say that almost everyone, the first time they meet someone, judges him or her based on how they look.
There is nothing wrong with that, since it is the first thing we notice and without much effort. Hopefully, after talking more to that person, our first impression will change for better or for worse.
However, physical appearance has turned into a cult; worshiping beauty has become a cult, and the body is its temple.
It only takes one advertisement or one visit to Abercrombie and Fitch to understand how high the standards are now when it comes to the body.
Size two seems not good anymore; size zero seems better.
Unfortunately, not many people meet those standards. We just created an image that is so above ourselves that only a few can reach it, while a whole lot strive to get there.
And this idea has been getting stuck in our minds since we were kids, to the point where it is believe that around 40 percent of nine-year-old girls have dieted (according to the research conducted by the EDSA).
I couldn’t avoid feeling sad for the girl at the grocery store. As many other young girls, she will certainly end up with an eating disorder.It’s more disappointing to think how many other lives have to be destroyed by anorexia and bulimia for us to realize that we have some standards to readjust.
Carolina Medelin can be reached at colaya@ut.edu.