|
EDITOR'S NOTE
I sat nervously in
my college dorm room, deciding the best way to approach the
“eating stuff” with a friend who I was mentoring. I was, of
course, nervous that she would take my words the wrong way and
completely reject my offer to be a support to her in the midst
of her struggle with anorexia. But I was mostly nervous because
I felt like a hypocrite—how did I expect to lovingly suggest to
her that she was abusing her body when I felt like I was one of
the last people qualified to share with her what a healthy
relationship to food should look like?
My experiences in
college opened my eyes to both my own vulnerabilities when it
came to the complex relationship between my body and food and
to the fact that I didn’t meet a single woman immune to my same
struggle. Eating habits, my own and those of my friends around
me, were a hazy mess of trying to determine what was in the
realm of “healthy” and what had crossed the line into the realm
of “a disorder.”
It was a problem
that perplexed me—why was it that, at my Christian university
surrounded by people who believed and spoke to me the truth of
the Gospel, we were so lost as to what it meant to live in our
bodies in a God-honoring way? I was especially confused by this,
because I, like so many young Christians, grew up hearing that
we are called to live differently from the narrow definitions of
beauty established by our culture.
This issue of
E-Quality is an attempt to initiate a complex and difficult
conversation, grounded in theology, philosophy, biology, and
psychology. With the possibility of more startling trends of
eating disorders among Christian colleges than at secular ones,
this is a conversation that I believe more committed egalitarian
Christians need to have.
In this issue:
Lilian Calles Barger presents an article on the
relationship of women to their bodies, with an emphasis on the
need for a community-wide response to eating disorders from the
Body of Christ.
Cissy Brady-Rogers discusses how women with eating
disorders interpret the Church’s teachings on sexuality and
bodies, and how certain Church teachings encourage unhealthy
eating patterns among women.
Malia Freeburg describes the American Church’s extreme
responses to food, highlighting stories from Christian college
students.
Marissa Cwik deconstructs certain youth group teachings
on modesty and their impact on developing young women.
Joy and Bruce Fleming reflect on culture, in light of
what Scripture says about bodies in Genesis and Corinthians.
In a new E-Quality feature, Put it into Practice,
JoAnn Streeter Shade presents a journal for women to
ponder body image.
Please also do not
miss the links on the right side of the page, including a book
review by Julie Prindle on Michelle Graham’s Wanting to Be
Her, a book sale featuring CBE resources on eating disorders
and body image, and an opportunity to share your thoughts on
eating disorders and health insurance on CBE’s blog, The CBE
Scroll.
I pray that this
issue of E-Quality will challenge and encourage all of us
in our search to live more healthy, God-honoring lives.
Blessings to you as you read and reflect.
Megan Greulich
E-Quality editor
* For more information on eating disorders,
please see
Eating Disorders Definitions and Statistics.
Perhaps you would like to share your story with the readers of
E-Quality. If you have an article you would like to submit for
consideration, send it to
mgreulich@cbeinternational.org. We would also love any other
feedback, comments, or suggestions that you may have. |
