Heartfelt Letter

tardis-blue-is-cool asked you:

"Uhm, I’ve been following your blog for a while now and I must say that it helped me a lot. I have/had a eating disorder, because I used to think that I’m /too fat/ or something stupid like that. I stopped eating for three week, losing my hair, getting skinny, the whole deal. I was even in hospital because of that. Now, this and a few other blogs helped me to get a more healthy view of myself and it feels very liberating. Thank you so much!

My girlfriend is thinking about herself in the same way, she always says she’s too fat and it really hurts me, because to me she’s the most beautiful girl I’ve ever met. She draws woman exactly like here on Escher Girls and I fear she thinks it’s something desirable to look like that. I wish she and all the other girls dealing with this problem will be able to accept themselves the way they are someday.

What I wanted to say with this is, that please don’t stop what you’re doing. I don’t know if you’re aware how much you’re supporting people like me. I thank you so much Ami, you’re wonderful. :) Love, Sophia."

This is one of the best letters I’ve ever gotten.  Seriously.  It makes me really happy, as somebody who has struggled with a serious eating disorder for the last few years, to know that I’m contributing to your recovery and better self image. :)  

I understand so much how you felt about your body, and how your girlfriend feels.  As silly as it is, for a while I was obsessed with trying to get a stomach as flat as Michael Turner draws them, and upset that my thighs touched when I press them together, and didn’t have that triangle space between the legs.  Comic book women do often hit on all the notes that society says is “beautiful” in women, and exaggerates them just enough that to our brains they seem hyper beautiful.  Photoshopped and air brushed models in advertising and other media also helps to skew what we believe is normal, to the point that women in video games and comics barely look exaggerated.  It’s not conscious, but it can be very easy to absorb these ideas and think that there’s something wrong with our real bodies and it skews what we think is “average” for women.  So I understand how your girlfriend feels.  I feel any other platitude I say will come off as disingenuous because it’s still something I really struggle with too.

Thank you so much for your kind words and for sharing your experiences and thoughts. :)  It really does mean a lot to me that this blog has a positive impact on people, especially with body image and eating.