“But some children love and thrive in school! And nobody thrives in diet culture. True. Some children, in some schools, do thrive.” I’ll add here (from personal experience) that some children learn very early on how to APPEAR to thrive in school; and that they genuinely feel they “love” the validation they get for conforming beautifully to school’s standards. And that the very same appearance of wellness, pursuit of external standards, and addiction to validation can lead straight into disordered eating. The most successful female-identifying students at the “best” schools are a population *hugely* affected by the harms of diet culture.
I love that you write about (and return to) this topic. Honestly, I wish I knew you in person so we could chat about it for hours!
These are all such good points! And very much my personal experience also - I love how you linked the validation you get by conforming to both cultures, it’s spot on! And yes - I could chat about this endlessly!
I have never made the connection between the two-makes so much sense!
yeah I only really started thinking about it after reading Virginia Solesmith's book Fat Talk - highly recommend!!
Ahhh! This is SO GOOD.
thank you!!
Bravo! What an absolutely brilliant assessment!
Thank you ♥️♥️
“But some children love and thrive in school! And nobody thrives in diet culture. True. Some children, in some schools, do thrive.” I’ll add here (from personal experience) that some children learn very early on how to APPEAR to thrive in school; and that they genuinely feel they “love” the validation they get for conforming beautifully to school’s standards. And that the very same appearance of wellness, pursuit of external standards, and addiction to validation can lead straight into disordered eating. The most successful female-identifying students at the “best” schools are a population *hugely* affected by the harms of diet culture.
I love that you write about (and return to) this topic. Honestly, I wish I knew you in person so we could chat about it for hours!
I think your comment is spot on, we have witnessed this exact story happen in a young family member and it’s so sad.
These are all such good points! And very much my personal experience also - I love how you linked the validation you get by conforming to both cultures, it’s spot on! And yes - I could chat about this endlessly!