According to the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) here in the United States, 20 million women and 10 million men suffer from an eating disorder at some point in their lives, including anorexia, bulimia or binge eating. They also state anorexia has the highest mortality rate out of any mental illness, and that is a…
Disney and DC artist and author Victoria Ying pulls at readers’ heartstrings and explores her past in the poignant YA graphic novel, ‘Hungry Ghost’ (April 25, 2023, Macmillan/First Second). Victoria has seen tremendous success with many of her works, including DC’s “Diana Princess of the Amazons”. Her career in illustration and animation includes work for…
By Nicole McCray Being a teen is harder. Mental health is an important topic whether you are a teen, or a parent of one. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 1 in 6 U.S. youth aged 6-17 experience a mental health disorder each year. The National Center for Health Statistics says that 5% of American 12-…
By Melanie Gibson Something happens to teenage girls that replaces their magic with a curse. Their personal interests fade away while they chase approval from others. Whatever love they have for themselves veers into seething self-hatred or at least mild disdain. I lost my magic when I was cursed with an eating disorder. I don’t…
[CW: Eating disorders] From beloved author Alyson Gerber comes another realistic contemporary novel called ‘Taking Up Space’. The story centers on main character Sarah, who loves basketball more than anything. Crushing it on the court makes her feel like she matters. And it’s the only thing that helps her ignore how much it hurts when her…
By Karen R. Koenig, LCSW, MEd If you’re recovering from an eating disorder, radically improving your self-talk might be the missing piece of your healing process. You may think of self-talk as mindless chatter—if you think of it at all—and as nothing to pay attention to. But the fact is that self-talk is the link…
If there is one thing that most people care about, it is how they look. For women especially, hair can become a defining feature that seems to be a global cultural trend, as outlines in this article. While the focus on outward appearances affect us all as humans, it is common knowledge that this disproportionately…
We’ve all been there. The end of the year rolls around and you didn’t follow through with any of the fitness resolutions you set out for yourself at the end of the year prior. In fact, you may have even gained weight or gone up a dress size. Thanks to society’s standards and those “Instamodels”…
Secret Keepers is a new, woman-owned and run jewelry company recently launched by Emily Joy Rosen on Kickstarter. Within 24 hours, they reached their funding goal and are setting up to launch their full ecommerce website. One of the things that makes Secret Keepers so unique is it’s message of bringing together art and personal…
Welcome to another Feminist Friday! That time of the week where we share 3 of our fave clips that we can’t get enough of right now. Given that female creators and stars are having a breakthrough moment in television and film in ways we’ve never seen before, this week we’re all about the types of…
By Kim McCabe She’s three and she sticks her tummy out proudly. She’s thirteen and she sucks her tummy in shamefully. What went wrong? She climbs a tree to play at being a spy. She sits in her room posting selfies to be liked. What went wrong? She says, “No! Stop it!” to the little…
Do you ever find yourself automatically resorting to the “you look so pretty!” statement when you are talking to a young girl? Do your comments naturally default to something about her physical appearance, as opposed to any of her abilities? And here’s the really challenging question: do you ever find yourself NOT resorting to the…
By Cami Julaine Dear Eating Disorder, I used to call you “Anna”, short for Anorexia. You were tall, tan, and lean-everything I am not. But that gave you too much power, the power you craved. The power you thrived on. So I changed your name to “Mia”, thinking that the shame of having bulimia might…
By Cami Julaine You know that feeling you get when you’re riding a roller coaster, slowly going up hill, and your body anticipates the fall, but it hasn’t quite dropped yet? Imagine having that constant feeling for hours, sometimes even days, and if you’re like me, it sometimes even lasts for weeks. That is Panic…
