Ana-Mia and the mature woman

Ana-Mia and the mature woman

I'm sure most women have heard the saying, "You can never be too rich or too skinny." I won't comment on whether or not you can be too rich, but I have a few words about the too thin part of the statement.

“Ana-Mia” refers to anorexia and bulimia, two of the most common eating disorders affecting our society. We constantly hear about teenage girls succumbing to these disorders. Our girls grow up and find that their bodies are changing, developing into femininity, and everywhere are the images of advertising models, female celebrities, with starved bodies, with waists, hips, legs that resemble those of a child. Our girls are taught that they should strive to maintain their “little girl” bodies at all costs. They are imbued at a young age with the fear of not belonging, of not looking like the model of acceptable female beauty set by a sick society.

What we don't hear about is the problem of more mature women becoming victims. As usual, the mature segment of our society has been overlooked when it comes to research into yet another women's health issue. However, from my own personal research, I have found that it is definitely a serious problem.

At a time in life when it is so important for women to eat healthily, many mature women choose to follow rigid weight loss plans that border on self-starvation. They also often engage in strenuous exercise programs to either lose or maintain weight, or to achieve an unrealistic level of “perfection” in terms of their bodies. A hoped-for return to the body they had ten, twenty, thirty years ago.

There is no single cause associated with the development of an eating disorder. Psychological factors such as a dysfunctional family or relationship or individual personality traits such as a tendency towards perfection are often cited as triggers. Emotional negativity, trauma such as rape, abuse or the death of a loved one can trigger these disorders. Most women with eating disorders suffer from these three basic factors - low self-esteem, a feeling of helplessness and extreme dissatisfaction with their appearance.

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Today's society may be responsible for more than a few cases of eating disorders. This fashion and image obsessed culture bears no resemblance to reality. We are constantly brainwashed by visual media. Every day we are bombarded with enhanced images of “perfect women.” All too often, these women are shockingly underweight to the point of emaciation. “Thin” is perceived as the only possible acceptable look. Adult women, starved, often to the point of resembling prepubescent girls, and then cosmetically enhanced, with breast implants, butt implants, etc., these women are presented to the masses as symbols of "perfection." This image is so ingrained in our society that it now negatively impacts every aspect of our lives and even permeates our workplaces. No matter how unrealistic it is to believe that the average woman can or would want to abuse her body in the ways mentioned above, society seems to have reached the point of no return on this issue.

Thin equals “looking young”

For mature women, society's influence meter is double-edged. Not only are we told that women must have a certain perfect body type, we are also told that being excessively thin equals looking young. ‘Lose weight, look younger!’ We see ads for diet aids advertised this way everywhere. In such an atmosphere, even emotionally balanced, intelligent women can be won over to the dark side!

Inspired by Jeannine Schenewerk