For the past many years, I have struggled with an eating disorder. Searching for a therapist, I have called several locations. Each time, they assumed that because of my voice I was a man and would want to be a part of their men’s services. When I corrected and explained that I'm not a man, they assumed I was a woman and would want treatment with other women. My options always … [Read more...]
My Struggle to Love With the Lights On After A Lifetime of Fatphobic Abuse
The first time I know that I am fat and that is bad is when I am ten. That is the year I become a lifetime member of Weight Watchers. My mom says I asked to go on a diet. I don’t remember what precipitated this request, but I am sure she’s right. I weigh 135 pounds at the first weigh in. When I find that first weigh in card ten years and 150 pounds later, I cry. I was my adult … [Read more...]
How Gentrification Shrank My Self-Confidence
Gentrification happened to me in steps. At first I was confused. Were the non-POC in this predominantly Black/Brown neighborhood lost? Did they miss their stop on this Queens-bound train? Are they simply taking a tour of the best Caribbean spots in Brooklyn? When I let it sink in that they were here to stay, noticeable transplants to a previously self-contained community, I … [Read more...]
4 Things Everyone Should Know About Eating Disorders in Marginalized Communities
We believe that there must be space to tell the story of EVERY body and we are grateful to those who have shared their stories with us so that we might share them with you. If you are struggling with an eating disorder, there is help. You can reach the toll-free, confidential National Eating Disorders Association Helpline in the US at 1-800-931-2237. You are not alone. I was … [Read more...]
Healing the Disconnect and Starting a Revolution: Eating Disorders and Disability
In honor of National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, TBINAA will feature stories that explore eating disorders at the intersections of our identities, sharing stories about ED from the groups that are often absent from the discussion. We believe that there must be space to tell the story of EVERY body and we are grateful to those who have shared their stories with us, so that … [Read more...]
6 Ways My Parents Unintentionally Taught Me Disordered Eating
This article was originally published on EverydayFeminism.com and is republished with permission. (Content Note: Eating disorders, including descriptions of restriction practices.) There’s only one time in my life I ever remember seeing my dad cry. It wasn’t at his mother’s funeral or his father’s, though I knew he was sad then. It was on a couch in a therapist’s office at … [Read more...]
3 Confessions of a Male Emotional Eater
A Growing Boy I was eight years-old the first time I ate so much that I threw up. The meal was spaghetti with ketchup and Parmesan cheese, a classic of my childhood served at least once every week or two when my parents were just too tired to make anything more complicated. It was normal for me to have second helpings on these evenings, but for some reason that night, … [Read more...]
Every Time I Judge Myself I Reveal And Unhealed Part of Myself: 7 Things I Shamed Myself About (And Maybe You Do Too)
It didn’t take too many visits to my therapist to learn that my biggest psychological hurdles were my narrow-minded perspectives on who I was supposed to be, where I was supposed to be in life, and what the people in my life thought or expected of me. I was carrying the weight of a million “what-ifs” with me everyday, everywhere I went, and into every relationship. I constantly … [Read more...]
How I Convinced Myself I Didn’t Have an Eating Disorder
It began with a love of tattoos; the permanence of art on an impermanent body, the buzz of the machine, the stinging and bleeding and the healing. And by “it” I mean how I taught myself to call my eating disorder “inspiration” and, thusly, non-existent. I’d spend hours upon hours on Tumblr, looking at tattoos on women. At first, I was mesmerized by colors, … [Read more...]
Radical Worldview Wednesday: #NEDAwareness, Domestic Violence Shelter for Men, #SayHerName: Maya and Veronica
In honor of National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, TBINAA will feature stories that explore eating disorders at the intersections of our identities, sharing stories about ED from the groups that are often absent from the discussion. We believe that there must be space to tell the story of EVERY body and we are grateful to those who have shared their stories with … [Read more...]
“Starting Today I End My Fear”: Nourishing Myself Through Anorexia
In honor of National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, TBINAA will feature stories that explore eating disorders at the intersections of our identities, sharing stories about ED from the groups that are often absent from the discussion. We believe that there must be space to tell the story of EVERY body and we are grateful to those who have shared their stories with us, so that … [Read more...]
