{"id":1384,"date":"2008-12-14T23:36:30","date_gmt":"2008-12-15T07:36:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.godammit.com\/?p=1384"},"modified":"2008-12-14T23:36:30","modified_gmt":"2008-12-15T07:36:30","slug":"the-eating-issue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/godammit.com\/the-eating-issue\/","title":{"rendered":"The Eating Issue"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week, it was Oprah. Now, it’s Rachel Zoe.<\/p>\n

Oprah has gone public with her weight gain, revealing that she’s addicted to food. \u00a0 I certainly sympathize with Oprah; I feel that inside the Slim Me, is a Fat me, who will take over if I’m not vigilant. I’ve never been fat, but I know that fatness is a state to be avoided at all costs. In our society, prejudice against fat people is so deep-rooted that even those seen pictured with fat people are judged more harshly, ‘according to studies.’<\/p>\n

Poor Oprah can’t keep anything secret, so she might as well use her own weight problem as a means of connecting with her audience. But is she an addict, do you think?<\/p>\n

Everyone has an opinion on Oprah. Some New Agey woman wrote a piece about Oprah’s weight gain at Huffingtonpost.com<\/a>, explaining to us that Oprah’s eating stems from “shame.” She even went on to point out to Oprah which chakra was messed up.<\/p>\n

Which chakra of Rachel Zoe’s is messed up? She insists that she’s thin by nature, but surely no one can look at her and see anything normal. This woman is starving, but she doesn’t believe it. When she looks in a mirror, she probably sees the weight she still needs to lose. Rachel Zoe has probably struggled with anorexia all her life. Is she addicted to not eating?<\/p>\n

I’ve only known two or three women who didn’t have a screwed up relationship with food, and one of them was probably lying. Food is our enemy, much of the time. At best, it’s an enemy we’ve called a truce with. I don’t believe that eating too much is an addiction, although it is clearly a compulsion for many people. Food equals comfort, and eating helps to stuff down feelings we don’t want to experience. Oprah could stop eating without undergoing withdrawal. She could eat less if she decided to! \u00a0 Just eat less, Oprah!<\/p>\n

Rachel Zoe is another story. She is so afraid of ending up like Oprah that she’s developed a pathology. She probably won’t be able to help herself. She needs clinical care but she will resist getting it. I’ve seen girls who are perilously thin but still terrified of eating an apple. Nothing gets through to them; their brains aren’t processing correctly.<\/p>\n

When I was a kid, my father would point out overweight women and express his contempt for them. I knew early on that I didn’t want to be fat. Being fat meant being unlovable.<\/p>\n

Eating is a loaded issue for women, more so than for men. To simplify: Our loveability is linked to our physical appeal. For men, it’s linked to their achievements. \u00a0 If you had a daughter, how would you help her avoid a conflicted relationship with food? And who do you most identify with, Oprah or Rachel Zoe?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"