Thin is Not In

In today's NYT, in the Science Section, a mother of twelve year old twin girls comments how everyone is admiring how thin she has become without realizing, this is not a sign of beauty, but a sign of grief. One of her twin daughters is recovering from childhood leukemia, and as her daughter's weight has plummeted downward, so has her mother's. THIN IS NOT IN, says this mom; very thin is often a sign of sickness and despair, but the message that is translated to young girls is it is okay to look like this, perhaps even positive. This made me think of a beloved YA book, Laure Halse' Anderson's WINTERGIRLS. The protagonist's thinness is a terrible disorder, anorexia, and what a message for Devon (the daughter) to hear how good her Mom looks thin, as if this is something to emulate. What a terrible message our culture is giving young girls and women, and Devon's mom wants to be asked about her grief, her feelings, not about her body. And she hopes when her daughter returns to school in the fall that her peers will not ask her about her thinness either, but instead ask how is she feeling.