Polygamy and Eating Disorders

So… what do polygamy and eating disorders have in common? Maybe nothing… yet. But I have the feeling that all those women from the Yearning for Zion ranch are going to be in for a rude awakening when they begin to move into mainstream society.

My prediction? Unfortunately, I think some of the “wives” will be swayed by our national obsession with thinness. Just as they are trying to recover from what many of us believe was a life led by deception and delusion on the part of the male cult members, they’ll be bombarded by images of svelte teens and uber-slender twenty-somethings.

Now, I’m not for a second suggesting that these ladies be kept from our culture. They have every right to face reality, even with all its inherent flaws. What I am saying is that I’m worried on behalf of these females who have been taught from birth not to think for themselves.

Imagine if you had no free will, if your voice had been tamped down since before you took your first breath. Wouldn’t you be even more susceptible to the message that to “fit in”, you have to be a certain weight?

Eating disorders will likely affect the older cult members less, though you never know. A fifty-year-old who has never been taught to think for herself can be intimidated as easily as a twelve-year-old.

Truly, I feel that those who are girls and young adults will have to grapple with issues they never knew existed. And eating disorders are bound to be part of the mix.