Friday 20 June 2008

Today

Today i saw a girl.

This statement is not unusual in itself, except for the fact that i have never seen a girl that looked like this before. This fact is unusual, what with the rising prevalence of this occurance within society.... or maybe it's just that i have never noticed it before.

The first thing i noticed about her was her wrists. pale, soft-looking, and so thin that you could see every single tendon clearly. then i saw her jeans. the can't have been more than a size 6 (a size 0 in america), yet they were so loose she needed a belt done up tightly around her waist to keep them up. Her jacket was thick enough to make her arms and rail thin body look relatively normal.

She was buying shoes with her mum, cautious and slow, not leaving the counter until her mum came back to her side. She bought a pair of white pointed shoes with a little heel on them. They were beautiful and delicate,just like her. They paid, then left.

I am old enough to know common courtesy: don't stare, don't point, don't talk about people especially if they are within earshot.
I am also old enough to know about anorexia and bulemia, and how to recognise it. I wondered in the shoe shop, as i do know, what stage of treatment she was in for the anorexia

I have never met this girl, and i doubt that i ever will meet her, but seeing her has made me need to say something, and i hope that every person that reads this, all the few of you that do, will listen to this:

Please, Please, take care of your bodies. Do not fall prey to the 'i must be thinner' disease that is modern culture. All the girls, all the boys that have suffered this, all those that are at risk, please see that being thin does not equate to being handsome or beautiful.


i know how hard it is. every day, i wake up and see my tummy and pray that i can have enough will power to say no to the unhealthy food and do more excercise. i know i look ok, and that i am in the healthy weight range for my age and height, but it is hard to live in a world in which curves and a flat, smooth stomach are revered.

For this girl, for me, keep healthy.

Lu

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