Please Bring a Photo of Your Inner Beauty for the Shadchan.

[onionsoupmix]

In 1996, Sacker studied ultra-Orthodox and Syrian Jewish communities in Brooklyn and found that 1 out of 19 girls was diagnosed with an eating disorder - a rate about 50 percent higher than the general U.S. population.

From here.

That whole article is so incredibly ironic in light of  the kiruv machine's continuous insistence that following the laws

Comments

[oneironstring]

Eating disorders are usually related to issues of control. Maybe the strictures of orthodoxy are leaving girls/women with no other way to rebel and assert their autonomy than to refuse to eat.

I find it a bit alarming as well as amusing that parents are asking for a girl's cup size. What? That is just too weird. Now, talk about un-tnius!

Obesity is linked to infertility, specifically, PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome). Am I giving too much credit to Orthodox parents that perhaps they are concerned for their son getting married to an infertile woman, as opposed to just wanting him to have a chance at a thin, hot babe?

I've always thought that the emphatic focus on "inner beauty" was a denial of reality anyway. While it's admirable for a community to try to shift the focus away from superficialities, the truth remains that a fit and attractive person is going to be more sought after than one who doesn't look like she takes care of herself. I hate to see the preoccupation reach the level of an eating disorder, but frankly, I think young women SHOULD give some attention to their physical appearance.

[onionsoupmix]

bra size http://www.imamother.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=860015&highlight=bra#860015

[oneironstring]

Can't open the link. I got banned, remember? :-)

[fetteredwolf]

Growing up Charedi, I knew plenty of young Charedi women with eating disorders. They tended to be the oldest in their families, had a lot of responsibilities. When you are the oldest of 8, 10 or 15 kids you are basically a mom to some of them and in the case of the girls I knew, it was very definitely an issue of control. (For one of my friends, it started when she, at age 11, became the primary caretaker of her severely autistic baby sister)

[ruchel]

I doubt many frum parents even know what PCOS is.