Eating Disorders Must Be Taken Seriously

Re “A Dancer’s Death Hints at a Cult of Secrecy” (July 17): I’m furious. The eating disorder body count rises, not even considering the walking dead who only die inside, continuing to look “beautiful” on the outside. When are we going to take this seriously?

“It was an adolescent thing. Aesthetically, we thought she could be a little thinner.” This from the artistic director of the ballet, who in one quotation trivializes Heidi’s issue as not serious and demonstrates her lack of understanding of the devastating impact of such words on a young woman. For most young women, these words cut like a knife, thanks again to the prevailing cultural atmosphere. They mean, “You don’t fit in. You’re not OK.”

Kids by nature will do whatever they feel is necessary to fit in--including joining gangs and taking drugs. Pushing oneself in ballet or gymnastics is only a more socially acceptable example of the same mechanism. Kids don’t know when to stop.

It’s time to accept women’s bodies as beautiful, at 98 pounds or 398. Please! Stop tormenting us with images and messages of what we “should” look like.

ANDREA L. BELL

Torrance