What do these people have in common?

Paula Abdul, Scarlett Pomers, Meredith Vieira, Ashlee Simpson, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Christina Ricci, Mary-Kate Olsen, Alanis Morissette, Katherine McPhee, Elton John, Dennis Quaid, Billy Bob Thorton, Jane Fonda, Sally Field, Kate Beckinsale, Justine Bateman, Victoria Beckham, Calista Flockhart:

They have all publicly admitted to battling an eating disorder.

“Why should we care about that?”, you may ask. You may not, but many of your clients and patients certainly will.

We live in a world filled with celebrity obsession, and just as is true of many people in our culture, our patients may likely be affected by the images and influence of celebrities in the media. In fact, some of your patients may not only be interested in the lives of famous entertainment personalities, they may also be interested in how much such celebrities weigh, how much they eat, what they eat, and how often and intensely they exercise. For better or for worse, a great many aspects of our culture reap what the tabloid news media sells – that a person’s value is somehow tied to their appearance, and that one’s body image is somehow connected to one’s worth.

Now I don’t believe that any more than you do. I think it is extremely unfortunate that our culture so values a thin ideal of beauty that celebrities are taunted and haunted based on what their scales might say, or how that designer dress might not flatter their mid-section.

Tabloid remarks are often so disparaging, and so disconcerting. Just this week, in fact, I was reading an article in a very popular tabloid magazine that said, “In an industry where size 0 is normal…” and then went on to talk about a suspected eating disorder in a young celebrity who is apparently struggling with body image and weight. The pressure that these women and men feel must be enormous. Conforming to a “norm” of size 0 is a dangerous pursuit.

If you ask some of your patients, you may not be surprised to find that many of them have looked to images of waif-like celebrities for “thin-spiration” in their efforts to diet, or “pursue extreme weight loss”, or even “become anorexic”. Sadly, and I am sure unwittingly, some very thin celebrities find themselves the focus of admiration “of the thin kind”. Images of famous silhouettes can be found plastered on door frames, hanging in lockers, and featured on websites and Facebook pages all over the world, for no reason other then they are extremely thin.

Even celebrities themselves are not immune to these images. Some feel a “competition” with regard to weight from their peers, some report pressure from directors or agents, and some are simply feeling the same cultural influence that we all do. I admire those in the entertainment industry who strive to be healthy and “rebel” against the thin ideal. I applaud those who come forward with courage to share about their own recovery from eating disorders.

Now we know that eating disorders are serious illnesses and not life-style choices. And yes, of course there are those who are naturally petite. But a size 0 is not the norm, not in any industry.

There are both celebrities and “regular folks” who spend hours each day of the week pursuing a “market-able” body shape. They lose weight, some of them do, because they think they have to. Is this entertaining? Do we really take pleasure in someone else’s eating disorder or body image struggle? If so, we have a serious problem with our definition of entertainment. Celebrities deserve to be healthy too, don’t they?

According to About-face.org, the media’s obsession with female celebrities’ bodies and personal appearance sends a message to all people (but perhaps women in particular) that [people’s] bodies are objects, on display, meant to be critiqued, judged, and picked apart for flaws. In this warped vein, bodies are not vehicles for health, activity, and pursuits that benefit one’s life and even trough their positive actions, the planet; they are instead commodities; “products” that should be altered, lifted, tucked, surgically mutilated, and medically enhanced until we all look like someone’s imagined image of perfection.

If only the Tabloid media would be so informed.