Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Hump Day Treat, National Eating Disorder Awareness Week Edition

Did you know that it's National Eating Disorder Awareness Week? Yeah, neither did I, until I read it on Feministing.

Is such a week necessary? I would say so, considering that I, myself, have not given much thought to eating disorders in some time. There's a lot going on in the world these days, and I bet I'm not the only person who's had her mind on other things. Also, I haven't heard anything about eating disorders in a long time; I haven't seen any magazine or newspaper reports about them, haven't heard about any actresses or athletes suffering from them, haven't so much as seen a Lifetime movie about a girl with an eating disorder.

So here's an important reminder, courtesy of Sonic Youth: eating disorders are deadly. Anorexia killed Karen Carpenter, one of the most famous women of her day. Sonic Youth's ode to Carpenter suggests that Carpenter's illness was related to her unhappiness with fame, and her feeling powerless as a mega-produced pop star.

If someone as successful, popular, and wealthy as Karen Carpenter could feel so miserably out of control, then who isn't at risk? Just something to think about on this snowy hump day.

Warning: this video is really sad...and really weird.

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