Fascinating article. As a middle-aged male, I know next to nothing about anorexia, although I supposed I have impressions and possibly misimpressions.
The control angle makes sense for some cases, especially the holy, self-denying virgin of medieval times. It was one of the few outlets the Christian culture of that era gave to young women…
Fascinating article. As a middle-aged male, I know next to nothing about anorexia, although I supposed I have impressions and possibly misimpressions.
The control angle makes sense for some cases, especially the holy, self-denying virgin of medieval times. It was one of the few outlets the Christian culture of that era gave to young women, and that was true of taking holy orders generally. A young woman (and for a young man, for different reasons that nonetheless converged on the same solution) could lift herself out of the lower, worldly realm of the coming-to-be-and-passing-away and into some sliver of eternity. These are neo-Platonic concepts that were rampant in late antiquity and persisted until early modern times. However, I doubt if they're much operative today.
I wonder if that seizing control idea makes sense for, say, Karen Carpenter. These strike me as more self-projections or self-assertions than self-denials. Maybe self-denial *is* a form of self-assertion -- I think we need Nietzsche here to sort this out for us. He lays out self-denial as a form of what he calls the will to power (a very broad concept in his approach).
We do have a problem in our society with accepting problematic mental and somatic dysfunction as such -- say, anorexia, or gender dysphoria, or obesity -- and doing something about it.
I'm glad your treatment worked and you made it to adulthood.
(I'm not sure veganism isn't a kind of mental disorder. For younger people and children especially, it's a form of dietary abuse. Humans are not herbivores and need some animal fat and protein.)
Fascinating article. As a middle-aged male, I know next to nothing about anorexia, although I supposed I have impressions and possibly misimpressions.
The control angle makes sense for some cases, especially the holy, self-denying virgin of medieval times. It was one of the few outlets the Christian culture of that era gave to young women, and that was true of taking holy orders generally. A young woman (and for a young man, for different reasons that nonetheless converged on the same solution) could lift herself out of the lower, worldly realm of the coming-to-be-and-passing-away and into some sliver of eternity. These are neo-Platonic concepts that were rampant in late antiquity and persisted until early modern times. However, I doubt if they're much operative today.
I wonder if that seizing control idea makes sense for, say, Karen Carpenter. These strike me as more self-projections or self-assertions than self-denials. Maybe self-denial *is* a form of self-assertion -- I think we need Nietzsche here to sort this out for us. He lays out self-denial as a form of what he calls the will to power (a very broad concept in his approach).
We do have a problem in our society with accepting problematic mental and somatic dysfunction as such -- say, anorexia, or gender dysphoria, or obesity -- and doing something about it.
I'm glad your treatment worked and you made it to adulthood.
(I'm not sure veganism isn't a kind of mental disorder. For younger people and children especially, it's a form of dietary abuse. Humans are not herbivores and need some animal fat and protein.)