Even Feminists can be anorexic

Now, I'm not one to complain about my lot, except of course as a Woman, but things really are getting ridiculous don't you think? Take for example, I was sitting in a Notting Hill cafe the other day with my friend Melody Wittgenstein, an excellent Female journalist and OXbridge graduate, having a wonderfully enlightening conversation about her recent work in Gambia (you can find some of her work in BBC archives, just search under Penny Laureate) that is until the waitress (I know, right!) came to take our order and I was horrified to hear my friend order a Skinny Latte withOUT chocolate and a small edamame salad. When this travesty of an order arrived, made to look ever more ridiculous by my perfectly sensible foccacia melt with triple espresso (in three cups), I confronted Melody. "Are you on a diet!" I blurted out, gesticulating wildly and spluttering affrontedly, to which she replied "Just watching what I eat, plus I had a big breakfast and a cereal bar at 11." (Yeah, I know!)

This got me thinking. If privileged Women like Melody who've achieved as much as it is frankly possible for anyone to achieve can develop terrible eating disorders, what on earth sort of a chance does that leave for anyone else? I mean, she went to OXbridge for goodness sake, if she can't pull herself together the rest of the Women in this country really may as well just walk into the sea. I mean NOW!

To be honest Melody was looking a little on the tubby side, especially for a journalist - I mean they're always rushing around aren't they? Now, I've never had a problem with keeping trim, but I certainly wouldn't let such considerations as the size of my sandwich or the frosting on latte dictate my gender, let alone my waist size! If Women are going to come to terms with their bodies, we're going to have to start eating properly - and that includes lunch.