Many celebrities suffer from eating disorders because of their work situation. Occupations like dancers, actors, singers, models, sports people and other media people are traditionally expected to be skinny. People in these careers often decide to pursue an extreme weight-loss program to fit the mould. Then it becomes the person’s habit and an eating disorder develops.
Ana
Heidi Guenther: ballet dancer: She turned to an anorexic after she was told by the theatre that at 5’5” and 96 pounds she was “too chunky.” She died from anorexia at age of 22.
Christy Henrich: gymnast: died from complications of anorexia at the age of 22. She contracted her anorexia after she was told by a
Gelsey Kirkland: ballet dancer, had anorexia. She recalled in her autobiography, “Dancing on My Grave,” that although she weighed less than 100 pounds at the time, Mr. Balanchine her coach was not satisfied. He stopped a class to inspect her body, thumped on the bones of her chest and said: “Must see the bones. Eat nothing.”
Melanie Chisholm: singer, dancer and former Sporty Spice from the Spice Girls has suffered from anorexia and bulimia since her teens. She was reported to have food restriction, frequent over-exercising, and amenorrhea (stopped period) and frequent purging episodes. She said about herself: “I went to the gym and trained constantly. I wasn’t eating properly. I wanted to get as perfect as I could, and that got me very sick.”
Kate Dillon: model. She has admitted to having an eating disorder “Starving myself was how I dealt with wanting to be perfect. I desperately wanted to fulfill what I believed to be the socially accepted size and presence.”
These are but a few. To see the full incredibly long list of celebrities who have suffered from an eating disorder see:
http://www.eatingdisorder-institute.com/?p=414
One celebrity name frequently associated with eating disorders is dancer, choreographer and singer Paula Abdul (American Idol Judge) who battled bulimia for over 17 years, she is also Brazilian born and Jewish so following on from my blog yesterday about body image holding no discrimination, I decided to check out Paula’s story and investigate further.
Her negative feelings about her own body image came as early as seven years old when she began dancing, but "it didn't manifest into a full-blown eating disorder until I was in high school."
People with bulimia crave food and binge-eat and afterwards they make themselves sick or misuse laxatives to get the food out of their bodies.
They feel guilty about the binge eating but because they are very afraid of becoming fat they continue the destructive cycle of compulsive eating and vomiting which they cannot control.
Abdul says she was very much a perfectionist as a child and wanted to make everything perfect. She describes herself as an ‘overachiever’ who in high school was class president, a top honour student and head cheerleader but she always thought she was too short and overweight. Her eating disorder was a “violent punishment on herself”.
At 5ft 2ins she always weighed between 105 and 110lbs (7½ stones) so battling bulimia was like a “war on my body”. She says, “I learned at a very early age I didn’t fit in physically. I learned through years of rejections at auditions and I would ask myself, “Why can’t I be tall and skinny like the other dancers? I have always thought, ‘God I’m not perfect. I’m going to disappoint people’”.
Today Paula Abdul is a spokesperson for the National Eating Disorders Association. She speaks out about her own past battles, in hopes of encouraging young women to love their own bodies and take the scary, but necessary, steps to seek help if they find they are on that downward spiral. "It is one of the toughest things to talk about, bar none, and it is one of the hardest disorders to deal with because it's not black or white. Eating disorders really have nothing to do with food, it's about feelings."
The National Eating Disorders Association presented Abdul with its highest honour, the ‘Profiles in Living Award’. When presented with the award she admitted, "You know, it's like any other girl, and I can always relapse. I have my moments when I look in the mirror and say, ‘I'm okay.' I also refuse to weigh myself. I don't have scales in my house anymore."
Abdul said she even battles Simon Cowell when he criticizes "Idol" contestants about their weight. "It's perpetuating eating disorders," she insists.
It is encouraging to see so many women celebrities openly discussing their own personal battles with body image issues and finally admitting their problems and disorders as it is still an issue in the industry that is not openly discussed and to admit you have a problem is seen as a failure in its self but for many young female dance students who suffer in silence and alone, educating students on how to make healthy choices and to look after their bodies and not be ashamed may well encourage those who are at risk to seek help before it’s too late and to stop them punishing themselves and being at war with their bodies.
References:
No comments:
Post a Comment