Sometimes It’s Hard to be A Woman –
March 22, 2020 – Physical pain from starving, plucking, injecting and cutting; emotional pain when we finally realize that no matter what we do (or don’t do), we are never enough. The proverbial prize at the end of the feminine rainbow for the most womanly or beautiful always eludes us because no matter how much we highlight, shade, cover, nip, tuck, contort or slice, we are never just right for gender parity. The “right” woman for the most powerful positions and offices in our society simply does not exist. College-aged women have always been particularly at risk for developing disordered eating patterns. A period of tremendous change, anxiety and uncertainty coupled with intense cultural pressure to avoid falling prey to the famed, shame-inducing “freshman fifteen,” create a collegiate climate where young women are expected to come into their own while compulsively scrutinizing their own skin. Undergraduate unease around their bodies appears to be getting worse, instead of better, as eating disorder rates on college campuses increase. Is this what a more “body positive” generation looks like?
