The State of Male Eating Disorders

We in the eating disorder activist world have grown guarded over media coverage of eating disorders. Pictures of emaciated models, “shocking” statistics over how much weight someone lost or how much food they weren’t eating, and what are referred to as “war stories” – descriptive accounts of eating disorder behaviors at their worst. This type of coverage is problematic because it focuses on the same things that the person with the eating disorder focuses on. Idolizing thinness and obsessing over weight – that’s part of what anorexia makes you do. When news articles do that very thing, all they do is reinforce the disease and its assault on our bodies and minds.

Therefore, I’m always happy to do interviews because I see it as an opportunity to speak about eating disorders in a realistic, serious way, from a perspective of health and recovery. I know friends in the ED world who have had interviews canceled when they repeatedly wouldn’t disclose what their “lowest weight” was, including for a national morning show (much to the disbelief of the show’s producers, who couldn’t believe someone would turn down that kind of publicity).

So, I wish to express my utmost gratitude to Catherine Pearson at the Huffington Post for the wonderful article she put together on eating disorders in men. Both myself and my friend Sam at Men Get Eating Disorders Too were interviewed for the story (which you can read here), and I want to thank her for handling the subject with so much care. Upon agreeing to be interviewed, I was already preparing in my mind a response for questions about weight and calories. However, it wasn’t needed, as all her questions were directed towards the recovery process and the heart of the issues.

I must thank her and her editors, also, for amending the title of the article. One could say it’s a moot issue since the title has been changed, but I think it’s still an important topic to discuss. Those of you who saw the interview when it was posted may recall the original title was “Manorexia: Eating Disorders In Men.” When I pulled up the article and read that, my heart sank.

Here’s why:

If you’ve been keeping up with me on here, you have probably heard me talk about “gender inclusivity.” I believe for ED treatment, research, and prevention to advance, it has to be fully inclusive and not just catered to the majority. I almost slipped through the cracks of the resources available to me during my own recovery because it was all designed for women, and I mourn for other boys and men who find themselves in similar circumstances.

I grimaced at the original title because taking a word like “anorexia” and altering it to reference EDs in men carries the implication that men experience it differently in some way – otherwise, they would just call it anorexia, right? A friend pointed out to me that he thinks it’s funny whenever you take a word and, to use his words, “dude it up.” Such words include phrases like ‘bromance’ (ever watch Scrubs?) and ‘dudevorce’ (when two close, plutonic male friends break things off). One that always makes me laugh is ‘manscaping’ (…just Google that one. Or maybe you shouldn’t, I don’t know what you’ll find!) Point is, they’re puns, which are meant to inspire humor. When we’re talking about eating disorders, though, it just seems to trivialize the issue in the name of a cheap pun. In short, it by default is not gender inclusive.

I emailed Catherine and expressed my concerns about the title. Within an hour, she had consulted her editors and they altered the title to its’ current form, which I have borrowed for this post. Again, I am deeply appreciative for their sensitivity to my concerns.

If only every other publication and news organization demonstrated the same level of care with their coverage of the issue. It’s become trendy to throw around a phrase like ‘manorexia,’ and it’s a trend that needs to stop if eating disorders in men (and women!) are going to be taken seriously.

What do you think? Does it matter?

Dude-Man out.

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