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Shrinking Women

“I have been taught accommodation. My brother never thinks before he speaks. I have been taught to filter. "How can anyone have a relationship to food?" he asks, laughing, as I eat the black bean soup I chose for its lack of carbs. I want to say: we come from difference, Jonas; you have been taught to grow out; I have been taught to grow in….The women in my family have been shrinking for decades.” This is a voice you may know all too well. Especially (but not only) if you are male, have you listened to the pain in this voice? The large majority of people suffering from eating disorders are between the ages of 12 and 25, and women are far more likely to be affected by an eating disorder than men. Women can also feel that they don't deserve as much space: that their presence is unwelcome and needs to be minimized.

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