Anorexia and the Mail vol 8,432
One of the most frustrating things about the Daily Mail is that it is, occasionally, an excellent newspaper. Here's an inspiring story about one woman's battle with anorexia:
But, as ever, they have to give with one hand and take with the other. Also in today's Mail, it's the latest in a long saga involving bitchy comments about photos of Natalie Cassidy:
In the story there's a plausible deniability about bitchiness regarding Cassidy's figure, though it later mentions how she 'piled on the weight':
So it's only in the comments that this kind of thing is allowed:
So there you have it. One the one hand, a real-life story about one person's battle with anorexia - on the other, bitchy sniping comments at someone who apparently isn't thin enough. It's the same old story.
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January 28th, 2010 - 14:21
The anorexia story is no more inspiring than it is triggering. Publishing her height and weight is utterly unnecessary and just serves as a benchmark for other sufferers.
The fact that she 'recovered' from a mental illness so quickly is almost laughable. And the fact that she is willing to let everyone see her low weight pictures suggests that in some way she is still proud of her original achievement – losing the weight.
And as far as the DM is concerned, pointing at the boney girl produces exactly the same Yuk! reaction as pointing at the fat girl. The article is essentailly useless gossip. It could have been useful, but it mentions NOTHING to do with proper treatment, statistics or anything like that. Not even a link to the the EDA at the bottom.
It actually makes it sound as if you can just 'decide' to get better if you have an eating disorder. Very damaging indeed.
This video is unfortunately more accurate. Heartbreakingly, the girl in it died last Thursday night. http://www.vimeo.com/8828355
January 28th, 2010 - 17:00
I'm struggling to wonder what Natalie Cassidy ever did that made the Mail so angry.
January 29th, 2010 - 01:30
You wonder what she did to 'make' the Mail angry. I thought the Mail was a raging rant rag. Anger is its character.