Today I am a guest blogger at Blogger Body Calendar, which is a wonderful project that, as you might guess, has to do with a calendar. The bloggers (not me, but the real bloggers who are part of this group) will bare it all (or what they wish) to raise money for the National Eating Disorder Awareness Association. These brave folks are committed to promoting healthy body image and countering negative cultural messages about what we are supposed to look like.
Those of you who know me will understand that my efforts to enter the blogosphere in a slow, measured way have failed; that I’ve become a crazy, round-the-clock writer and twitterer and follower of the people I’ve stumbled upon along the way. This was predictable.
Even though I’ve jumped in, I’ve struggled with how to present myself online. Am I an expert in the field, one who counsels others and dispenses advice without reference to subjective experience or personal history? Or do I take a more feminist, authentic approach, which would enable me to–gasp!–acknowledge that I’ve been there, that I get it in a personal way?
Dr. Freud, my Dear-John letter is in the mail, since it seems I’ve gone the relational route and turned my back on the objective, blank-slate thing.
It’s been many years now that I’ve danced around the subject of my own troubled history with food and body image. There are people in my life who are unaware of the fact that I, too, have struggled with these issues. And by these issues– I might as well just come out and say it–I mean an eating disorder. (Now, was that so hard? Well, apparently.) This post is a “coming out” of sorts.
And now that I’m out there, it feels pretty good. But please don’t throw any tomatoes. Although it looks like I’m a full-fledged member of this tell-your-secrets-to-unknown-strangers-online club, I haven’t yet grown a thick skin. (Maybe I should see a therapist about that.)
You can find my post here.
