The Cost of Our Delusion
Eating disorders have become an epidemic. It seems that every day we hear about another celebrity who shares their struggles with an “ED.”
Jackie Evancho Opens Up About Her Eating Disorder (“AGT’s Jackie”)
Figure Skater Gracie Gold Opens Up About Depression, Eating Disorder (“Figure Skater”)
Clelia Murphy opens up about struggle with anorexia (“Clelia”)
These headlines are just a few examples of the countless instances of celebrity eating disorders. Beyond the celebrities, countless people, especially women and young girls, struggle with eating disorders. Considering that eating disorders have a high mortality rate (higher than any other mental illness), this should concern us (“Eating Disorder Statistics”).
As a Christian and social-worker-in-training, this does concern me. It concerns me because I think that our cultural ideals of sexuality and beauty have contributed to this epidemic. As a Christian, I am not okay with the objectifying of women. As a future social worker, I am not okay with the fact that some of our most vulnerable populations (children) are literally dying because of cultural pressures that we have inflicted on them.
Paul David Tripp puts it eloquently in his book Sex and Money.
“Young girls today surely worry more about the beauty of their faces and the shape of their bodies than they do about the quality of their character. Our heroes tend to people who are young, rich, and sexy, rather than heroes in the classic sense of what the word connotes” (20).
We have been conditioned to treat people as sexual objects and judge them based on their beauty. Eating disorders are only one tragic consequence of this cultural distortion. Cultural pressures are not the only contributor to eating disorders — they are fueled by many factors, including genetics. But we have lost sight of the heart of what it means to be human — to be made in God’s image. And when we lose sight of that, when we “begin to serve the creation as we were designed to serve the Creator…it never works; it only leaves us empty, driven, and dissatisfied, the victims of our own bad choices” (Tripp 25).
But how should Christians and social workers speak into this? We do not come with a message of condemnation for those in darkness. Many of us — including myself — have faced that darkness. Rather, we come with a message of hope. God can and does redeem even the most broken stories. And he sees us for so much more than our bodies, no matter what the culture says.
For Further Reading:
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/eating-disorders-and-the-power-of-christ/
Sources:
“AGT’s Jackie Evancho Opens Up About Her Eating Disorder: I Would Go ‘Days Without Eating’”. People. https://people.com/health/agt-jackie-evancho-opens-up-eating-disorder/
“Eating Disorder Statistics.” National Association of Anorexia and Associated Disorders. anad.org/education-and-awareness/about-eating-disorders/eating-disorders-statistics/
“Figure Skater Gracie Gold Opens Up About Depression, Eating Disorder: ‘I Was Suicidal for Months’”. People. people.com/sports/gracie-gold-on-depression-eating-disorder-suicidal/
Stiffe, Rebecca. “Clelia Murphy opens up about struggle with anorexia.” Irish Examiner. 26 January 2019. www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/entertainment/clelia-murphy-opens-up-about-struggle-with-anorexia-900264.html
Tripp, Paul David. Sex & Money: Pleasures That Leave You Empty and Grace That Satisfies. Crossway, 2013.
