Mark Morford's latest column is something of a shocker. It talks about "secret online clubs" cropping up all over the country that basically come down to an underground movement supporting anorexia. What's even sadder is that Morford, for all his platitudes about how terrible it is that these girls "all apparently want to be sickeningly, unhealthily, grossly skinny," he completely glosses over one of the reasons many of them worship "Ana" - that they're told and shown over and over by the media that Fat Equals Bad. Not only does Morford ignore this fact, he even adds to the problem with this aside:
But the good news is, barring any permanent damage to their organs or bones or whimpering souls, the vast majority of girls will grow out of the savage Ana/cutting self-abuse phase, just as the vast majority of teens of both genders hopefully grow out of whatever tragic/moronic/morose anxieties that wrap around them like boa constrictors during those deadly and precious years from about 13 to 18, when all is harrowing and pimpled and angst ridden and torn and before it all starts to get a tiny bit easier. Before, that is, the time when it all starts to calm down and gel and make a tiny bit more sense, when it evolves into the more relaxed, less traumatic adult phases of, you know, obesity and sexual anxiety and alcoholism and a rabid addiction to eBay. Ahem.
Emphasis mine, naturally. And yes, I've written to Morford pointing out his wilfull blindness. Never mind that I'm highly skeptical as to whether "the vast majority" of teen anorexics and bulimics actually do "grow out of" it, particularly considering the incredible fatphobia that still exists in this culture. Maybe Morford never heard of Karen Carpenter, or Terry Schiavo, or Princess Diana, or any lower-profile adults who didn't "grow out of" it at all.
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