Traditionally, in the black community we tend to not think about things like eating disorders and it is believed by many that they don't happen in our community. The thought, is that we all love our "inherently" thick bodies, and the idea that this "thickness" is something that black women glorify and strive to achieve. Eating Disorders among black girls are so common, yet they are easily dismissed as “white girl stuff” and that can be so destructive and harmful.
A 2006 study found that clinicians were less likely to assign an eating disorder diagnosis to a fictional character based on her case history if her race was represented as African-American rather than Caucasian or Hispanic. And although statistics do show that eating disorders predominantly occur in white women, many eating disorder professionals believe those numbers are skewed, as women of color have been alienated from a support network that for too long has bought into the myth. According to the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), “exact statistics on the prevalence of eating disorders among women of color are unavailable” because, “due to our historically biased view that eating disorders only affect white women, relatively little research has been conducted utilizing participants from racial and ethnic minority groups.” Eating disorders don't only include the traditional anorexia and bulimia but also patterns of over eating and eating excessively when one isn't hungry which can be just as detrimental to ones health as starving yourself because it can lead to obesity. As someone who as suffered from an eating disorder the lack of representation and outlets for all women of color not just black women is discouraging and saddening.
In middle school I suffered from anorexia, (it should be noted that I attended a predominately white middle school, I was 1 of 2 black girls) and every year in our little week long health spiel a nice white lady would come in and show us condoms, preach that abstinence is the way, alcohol is the devil, and talk about her experience with an eating disorder. She would tell us that EDs are not about beauty they are about power and control and we were at the point in our lives where we wanted freedom and couldn't have it so we would obtain it in any way possible. For some of these girls this was the reality, mom wouldn't let me straighten my hair, or let my boyfriend come over; she's a dictator and it's not fair but she can't shove steamed broccoli down my throat. For me a young black girl with no sense of cultural identity it was all about beauty which is a system of power and control in itself, obsessed with the idea of eurocentric beauty I saw all these skinny girls with their size 2 lululemon pants that were still too big and I couldn't help but want to look like my friends did. And still today with the acceptance and desire of thickness there's still a part of me that wants that stickness and there's this constance pull within to be a tiny waif like girl but also this thick ethereal goddess but we shouldn't feel pressured to be either.
It's important that black girls and boys know that they are important and that their lives and health matters.
By: Paige White
Sources:
http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2014/03/eating_disorders_and_women_of_color_anorexia_and_bulimia_are_not_just_white.html
http://blackfemalepresident.tumblr.com