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Body Gossip <bodygossip>

"Real Stories about Real Bodies"

	The House of Commons and the Daily Mail	288 dagen geleden
	SO yesterday I was invited to the House of Commons to join Beat at the launch of Eating Disorders Awareness Week. I was joined by the beautiful Chloe Marshall, and the fantastic Emma-Jane Haigh, a Body Gossip Ambassador. The focus of the event was a report by Beat highlighting the problems that exist in primary care when dealing with eating disorders. Out of 1500 sufferers of eating disorders, only 15% felt that their doctor really understood how to deal with their eating disorder. And we heard from 2 Beat ambassadors and their parents who told us that they visited doctors up to 10 times before the eating disorder was even diagnosed! These are scary findings, because there are so many people out there suffering from eating disorders, and they can't even get adequate (let alone quality) health care. As you know I'm raising money and awareness for Beat, and so it was really great to be there as a representative of Body Gossip. And I was joined by Chloe Marshall - the size 16 model who shot to fame last year when she was crowned Miss Surrey, and she came 2nd place in the Miss England final. She's performing one of the Body Gossip stories in the show on 29th March and she says she's really excited, but also a bit nervous! I also met up with Emma-Jane Haigh, who is a strong supporter of both Beat and Body Gossip. Emma-Jane and I have spoken a lot about her own eating disorder, and how - now she has recovered - she is determined to speak up about the illness. I'm so glad she's supporting Body Gossip as she's a great speaker and incredibly passionate about celebrating realistic beauty. As I write this I'm waiting to be interviewed by the Daily Mail - which is very exciting! I do find it difficult though when talking about why I'm doing Body Gossip - although I had struggles as a teenager (as we all do, right?) it wasn't until I went to New York and studied film acting, aged 25, that I really felt pressurised to look a certain way. I've always loved food, and see exercise as a way that I can enjoy it more! But when I was in New York I did feel under pressure to lose weight - the first time I'd ever seriously felt that way since my paranoid teenage years. It was while I was in New York that I became involved with a group of actors who wanted to create a project about body image. They had all suffered in varying degrees from eating disorders, and talking to them made me angry and frustrated - these gorgeous women (and I'm not sucking up to them, they really are gorgeous) who had felt so far away from the images of "perfection" that they had seen on the catwalks, in the mags, in the films – that they had starved themselves to try and emulate what they saw. This made me so angry and frustrated that I came back to the UK and launched Body Gossip – to inspire people to shout about their bodies, until their stories are heard loud and clear. The reason I find it difficult is that I’ve never felt what these women in New York – and how so many people in the UK , and all over the world – feel. And I worry that people might be annoyed or disillusioned that I haven’t experienced what they have. No, I haven’t. I’ve not had an eating disorder. But I became close to one in New York, and I know what it’s like to feel disgusted by the fat on my body. But then I got angry-and the result is Body Gossip! Luckily I’m no longer angry – I’m hopeful, and excited, and inspired and moved. I’m looking forward to seeing Body Gossip grow and grow. And for the first time in the last two and a half years, I have a feeling it just might grow… I think Body Gossip is getting there. And it’s a great feeling.
	geplaatst door Body Gossip