Mixed Black Artist Recounts Anorexia Battle in Vogue First-Person Essay
In a personal essay published in Vogue, a mixed Black writer and novelist recounts her decade-long struggle with atypical anorexia, which began at age 15 in 2017 while attending an arts high school in Oakland, California. She describes how Instagram's peak era promoted a beauty ideal of thin-but-curvy, ethnically ambiguous bodies that whitewashed Black features. Despite losing half her body weight between ages 15 and 17, she was diagnosed with atypical anorexia because she was not underweight. The disorder led to hair loss, dangerously low blood pressure, and blurred vision. After a medical crisis where she could not see, she entered an intensive outpatient program, learning to eat fear foods like pasta. By age 20, her first novel was published, and she had regained the weight. She married at 22 and now describes herself as at peace.
Key facts
- The author was first told to lose weight at age six.
- The eating disorder began at age 15 in 2017.
- She attended an arts high school in Oakland, California.
- She is a mixed Black woman with green eyes.
- She lost half her body weight between ages 15 and 17.
- Diagnosed with atypical anorexia because she was not underweight.
- Her hair thinned and fell out; her hairstylist refused to cut it.
- She experienced blurred vision after eating only Granny Smith apples for two weeks.
- She completed an intensive outpatient program involving group therapy and monitored meals.
- Her first novel was published when she turned 20.
- She married at age 22.
- The essay was published in Vogue.
Entities
Institutions
- Vogue
Locations
- Oakland
- United States