Women's History Month
© Heather Mudgett.
At the addictions.com website, I found a little history of eating disorders "Eating disorders are not new. Anorexia has its roots as far back as the 13th century. It was seen often with religious women who were actually canonized as being saints for their fasting practices. These woman are often referred to as "holy anorexics." Eating disorders probably occurred in other societies for different reasons than in our own. The cultures in which these young women lived valued spiritual health, fasting, and self-denial much as our own values thinness, self-control and athleticism. Holy anorexia provided women with a highly valued status in both church and society. When the definition of holiness was altered, so eventually was the incidence of holy anorexia. There are some hints of bulimia during these centuries also but no actual confirmed cases. Some of these women were suspected of binge-eating practices as well as their restricting (Bell, 1985; Davis & Bell, 1985; Zerbe, 1995)." However, in the time of Caesar (700 B.C.), bulimia was demonstrated significantly by the presence of vomitoriums. "Eat, drink, and be merry" included vomiting so that a person could return for additional eating, drinking and merriment (Thaddeus, 1927)." You can read this entire piece at http://www.addictions.net/info.htm
I found a few books, which explore the history of eating disorders.
Amazon.com explains that FASTING GIRLS, by Joan Jacobs Brumberg "presents a history of women's food-refusal dating back as far as the sixteenth century. Here is a tableau of female self-denial: medieval martyrs who used starvation to demonstrate religious devotion, "wonders of science" whose families capitalized on their ability to survive on flower petals and air, silent screen stars whose strict "slimming" regimens inspired a generation. Here, too, is a fascinating look at how the cultural ramifications of the Industrial Revolution produced a disorder that continues to render privileged young women helpless. Incisive, compassionate, illuminating, Fasting Girls offers real understanding to victims and their families, clinicians, and all women who are interested in the origins and future of this complex, modern and characteristically female disease"
You can read a further review of FASTING GIRLS at StudentAdvantage.com, "This book takes the reader from the Middle Ages, when young women between the ages of 15 and 21 would ritually fast to achieve sainthood, through the Victorian era, when the disease is first named, all the way into the 21st century when "You look anorexic" has almost become a catch-phrase for anyone considered too thin. Besides being just a history of the disease, this book also goes into great and dramatic detail describing the anorectics. Rare is the reader who can forget the story of Ann More, a sixteenth-century woman, who believed she was able to live without eating, or the story of Mollie Fancher, a Victorian-era clairvoyant, whose parents refused her food. This book also chronicles celebrities, some well-known for having had the disease, like Carpenter and "Growing Pains" star Tracey Gold, some not nearly as well known for having it, like the poet Lord Byron." Read the entire review at http://www.studentadvantage.com/article/...
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