Dying For Perfection

Dying for Perfection
On August 12, 2001, NBC aired the network movie Dying to Dance. Character Alyssa Lennox starved herself to “improve” her body alignment for the purpose of satisfying requirements for the Metropolitan Dance Company. Alyssa weighed 104 pounds at the start of her career. She weighed a drastic and dangerous 84 pounds at the end of 3 months. Alyssa was abusing herbal pills, laxatives, and came near to purchasing the drug “Speed” to keep herself awake. Alyssa was hospitalized because she suddenly fainted due to overexertion. Alyssa recovered from her illness, but many not are so lucky. The illnesses that I speak of are called eating disorders. Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are two of the many illnesses that occur among young dancers and other sports such as gymnastics. Many of these young women develop these disorders because they are being pressured by their coaches or judges to be perfect.
Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder in which the person...