As young feminists, we must place unconditional acceptance of
our bodies at the top of our political agenda. We must claim our
bodies as our own to love and honor in their infinite shapes and
sizes. Fat, thin, soft, hard, puckered, smooth, our bodies are
our homes. By nourishing our bodies, we care for and love
ourselves on the most basic level. When we deny ourselves
physical food, we go hungry emotionally, psychologically,
spiritually, and politically. We must challenge ourselves to eat
and digest, and allow society to call us too big. We will
understand their message to mean too powerful. I had been
willing to accept self-sabotage, but now I refused to sacrifice
myself to a society that profited from my pain… Gazing into the
mirror at my emaciated body, I observed a woman held up by her
culture as the physical ideal because she was starving, self-
obsessed and powerless, a woman called beautiful because she
threatened no one except herself… As long as society resists
female power, fashion will call healthy