Rape and food = Pleasure! YUMMO

I have heard some pretty egregious comments when it comes to rape, but this one surely takes the cake-pun intended.

http://jezebel.com/5269464/anti+obesity-activist-meme-roth-compares-eating-to-rape

If there are two things on this planet that are not my friend, they are the following:

1) Rape
2) Eating Disorders

This woman has 1 point I will give her credit for. Unfortunately, defense lawyers do resort to disgusting victim blaming tactics to defend their rapist scumbag clients implying that their victims experienced pleasure from their violent sexual assaults, that it was consensual, that they were drunk, on drugs, a prostitute... You name it, and I've heard the they were asking for it scenario from other survivors, to cases in the media, smack down to my very own experience and legal case with rape.

But to compare pleasure from over-indulging in food to pleasure from being sexually violated is just not something I can wrap my brain around, and the parallel defies all logic in the Gospel according to moi.

Obesity has just as many serious medical complications as Anorexia and Bulimia. To over-indulge in food consumption or as in my case, under-indulge are both equal forms of abusing a substance, even if the extremes are in opposition.

While over-indulging in food may be a temporary pleasurable fix to cope with or or hide behind emotions, I highly doubt that obese people derive pleasure from the taunts they receive by our society’s obsession and preoccupation with “THIN IS IN.” From personal experience, living with an eating disorder is pure mind torture, and I would not wish it upon my worst enemy. I did not wake up out of bed one day and decide “I think I will just become Anorexic.” Just as I am sure, people who struggle with Obesity/Binge Eating Disorder/ or Bulimia, did not wake up out of bed and say “I think I will just start eating what I want and puking it up, I think I will just start eating whatever suits my fancy, and if I become over weight, who cares?” All of my years in treatment have taught me that many of these illnesses are while not always necessarily the case, often genetically and biologically based- much like alcoholism or drug abuse. That is not to say that behavior modification with a qualified professional can't turn it around, but she need not be so harsh in the manner she addresses people who struggle with eating disorder related issues.

It is also a widely published statistic that victims of sexual assault can experience sexual arousal from a rape. It is not uncommon at all, especially in a fight-or-flight experience. The human body is wired to experience sexual pleasure. This in no way suggests that the victim invited, welcomed, or deserved such a vile and invasive crime to be inflicted upon them.

This woman clearly lacks any understanding of sexual assault and the devastating conditions survivors can develop- Rape Trauma Syndrome, PTSD, etc. She also is not a “Registered Dietitian” and has no official legal license to be counseling anyone what they should be putting in their mouths.

There is a new eating disorder out there referred to as EDNOS- Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified that does not fit the medical criteria for Anorexia or Bulimia- the only two official eating disorders recognized by the DSM-V. Not that I should judge given my own struggles with Anorexia- but a chick who claims to be a “Nutritional Counselor” who “May not eat until after 3:PM” unless she’s had a work out sure as hell seems to me to fit the category for EDNOS or Disordered Eating- no matter what her weight is.