Abstract
The ‘superwaif summit’ held by the Government in June 2000 triggered a swell of media coverage around the issue of anorexia, laying ‘blame’ at the hands of thin models and stars, reducing the condition to a trivial preoccupation of an individual with appearance, ignoring underlying psychological and social factors. As someone who has encountered anorexia firsthand, I feel it is important to air the perspectives of those best informed on the subject: those who are or have been labelled as ‘anorexic’. Unfortunately, medical professionals and other ‘experts’ judged to have the kudos to offer authoritative soundbites frequently supersede such opinions in the media. But there is no substitute for experience. Therefore, I held a focus group with five women, all of whom attend a support group for people with eating problems, at which I act as facilitator. Their views have been incorporated into this work under the following pseudonyms: Louise, Marie, Petra, Annabelle and Jayne. It is not suggested that these women’s statements reflect the thoughts of all those defined as ‘anorexic’, but their publication will enable the personal voice to become political.