In recovery from eating disorders, it's useful to think and talk about the eating disorder (ED) as a separate being. Unfortunately, "Pro-Ana" and "Pro-Mia" sites use the female personifications Ana (for Anorexia) and Mia (for Bulimia) to covertly encourage ED behavior. As a result, people in recovery are often reluctant to voice female personifications of EDs, lest they be mistakenly lumped in with the pro-ED "movement."
The go-to personification in treatment (popularized by certain books about recovery) tends to be "Ed" - a male figure. However, not everyone in recovery experiences their ED as male. In fact, since the majority of people with EDs are female, and experience the ED as an aspect of self, it makes perfect sense that it would often "feel" female. So, where are all the recovery narratives where the ED is female?
They are missing, but I'm on a quest to find them, to introduce a wider array of options for people going through recovery. If you experience your ED as female, I hope you will share a bit of your journey with her - as a story, letter, poem, or whatever feels right to you. It need not be Ana or Mia - some of my favorite alternatives have been Edie and Edna, but whatever you call her is welcome! I hope to ultimately create a book for others in recovery, and "reclaim" these metaphors from the pro-ED camp. Contact me at
reclaimingana@gmail.com for more information, or to share your story!
No comments:
Post a Comment