Anorexia

An underground subculture of teenage girls who bond over their eating disorders and glorify bone-thin celebrities has surfaced on the Internet, in a growing trend that experts say frustrates treatment.

As harmful as it is, there is a certain kind of lunar, mind-over-matter glory to anorexia.

I remember once at my relatives, waiting for the arrival of one of my cousins: the "anorexic" one, whom I hadn't seen in quite a while. As we waited, we talked among ourselves about body self-image, healthy eating, peer pressure, and fashion industry imagery.

Expecting an ethereal waif, I was more than a little surprised when a bronzed Amazon strode through the front door. She skipped the inane pleasantries, sallied forth into the kitchen, yanked opened the refrigerator and shouted, "Isn't lunch ready yet? I'm starving!"

An above-ground uberculture of middle-aged worrywarts who bond over their eating disorders and glorify morbidly-obese celebrities has surfaced everywhere, in a growing trend that experts say frustrates treatment.