Nuts and Bolts:  Getting Down to the Nitty Gritty!

How Feminism Can Help

You

Recover from

Eating Problems[i]

 

Feminism:

can help women recover from eating and body image problem in   numerous ways.[ii]

 

 Definition:

...”... a straightforward belief in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes.”

 

 Issue of Feminism . . .  gets a bad rap from the sixties!

           (If you agree that women are equal to men, then you’re a feminist!)

 

Feminism:  an empowering perspective

                 Builds skills in self reflection

                                      critical thinking

                                      goal setting

                                      assertiveness

                                      creating boundaries

                                      self preservation

                                      challenging the status quo

 

         **these are the same skills needed to overcome eating problems.

 

 

Feminism says:    A woman’s body belongs to her!

                          a revolutionary notion!

(How can a woman feed, dress, and use her body when she   doesn’t feel as if it belongs to her?)

 

No individual man (father, brother, husband, boyfriend,    boss) is a co-owner of your body.

 

Men collectively (be they in the diet or fashion industry, management, medical establishment, policy makers or politicians) may not by virtue of their gender, try to take over your property.

 

 

Accept the fact you own the rights to your body . . .

And you accept that you are the best one to make food     and weight decisions.

 

 

You . . . have a stake in nourishing a healthy body and keeping fit

            Decide what clothes work best

 

           

Being a feminist means

·        Setting a personal course with eating, finding the right body size and dressing to please yourself.

·        Being involved with individuals who treat you with respect and not as a sexual object

·        Using many tools – personal, professional and societal – to reinforce the fact that women are equal to men.

·       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ways to work on food and body issues

By engaging in a

Feminist Perspective

 

1.      Quit asking “him or her” (whoever she or he is) how you look.  Decide for yourself.

 

2.      Eat whatever – and as much or as little - as you want in front of men.  Men don’t ask when they want a second helping and neither should women.

 

3.      Wear clothes that you like rather than what “he” likes and/or find items that you agree on.

 

4.      Don’t let men get away with making sexist or inappropriate comments about your body or any women’s body.  Explain why they should keep their thoughts to themselves ( or better yet, why they should change their thinking altogether.)

 

5.      Ask for that raise, go for that promotion, find a new job.  The happier you are work, the less stressed you’ll be and the less likely you’ll abuse food.

 

 

6.      Tell your male partner you want more equality around the house.  While taking care of him (and everyone else), who’s taking care of you?

 

7.      Volunteer for a local or national political candidate – male or female – who support feminism.  Vote only for feminists.

 

8.      Choose female friends who believe they are equal to men.  Avoid women who put down other women and who don’t believe they are equal to men.

 

9.      Stop buying women’s magazines that use ultra-skinny or provocatively posed models.  Write a letter to the editor about ending your subscription until the magazine portrays healthier images.

 

10. Educate women who diet about its dismal failure rate and how it causes rebound eating and even eating disorders.  If every female in your group of friends diets, be the ‘thinks – for – herself’ gal who doesn’t.

 

11. Turn off the negative chatter in your head about not looking good or good enough,  Instead keep self-talk positive, accepting, and empowering.

 

12. Read about great women and seek out female role models.

 

 

Thinking and acting like a feminist goes a long way toward helping you go after what you want and feeling more satisfied with life.

 

Much of the intensity behind food abuse is dissatisfaction and not knowing how to climb out or our passive, pleasing, second string role.

 

Much of our dissatisfaction comes from how women are shaped by men’s ideas about them.

 

Practicing feminism means saying ‘YES’  to all the positive, good, and healthy things you ( and we, all of us) deserve --- including being free of eating and body image problems.