Those impressionable teens... anorexia, teen literature, and censorship

Just the other day I picked up this book at Chapters and thought it looked like a worthwhile read. Wintergirls is the story of one girl's struggle with anorexia.

Written by popular Young Adult author Laurie Halse Anderson, the recently released book is already causing a stir because of the of the subject matter. Seems as though some adults are worried the book will be used as an "eating disorders manual" -- giving readers a step-by-step guide to "getting" anorexia. New York Times blogger Tara Parker-Pope raises the question if these types of books can become "alluring guidebooks." She writes:

It is a chilling notion, but one that is well known to anorexia researchers. The Internet has given rise to countless “pro-ana,” or pro-anorexia, Web sites that promote anorexia as a “lifestyle” rather than a disease. Photos of rail-thin celebrities like Lindsay Lohan and the Olsen sisters serve as “thinspiration,” while reading lists tout the appeal of eating disorder books.

So far, Wintergirls has not made these so-called "thinspiration reading lists", but nonetheless the posting seems to have raised the alarm, despite Barbara Feinberg's review saying "there is nothing in Wintergirls that glamourizes the illness" I wouldn't be surprised to hear that the book will eventually be targeted by censors who have already been after other books for teen girls that deal with ever-controversial subjects like - gasp - sexuality.

I like Jezebel's take on the issue -- we don't give teen girls enough credit for being independent thinkers, assuming they'll be swayed into developing a serious disease like anorexia because they read a book about it (or saw a movie about it, or saw a pic of Lindsay Lohan, etc). Not only is it a simplistic arguement but it has dangerous effects -- it's the same arguements that is often giving for restricting comprehensive sex ed programs and for keeping teens in the dark about condoms and birth control.

I imagine that it's only those girls who already have disordered eating that would find this book to be a how-to guide, and in such case, opening up dialogue about eating disorders - something that the book definitely does - might be the first step in confronting the problem.

On a related note, I find it fascinating that it's often books for girls that get banned. See this interesting article on teen book bans from Women's e News, and how anti-censorship orgs are connecting "controversial" authors up with their fans via internet chat rooms and social networking sites. Awesome!

xo, jessalynn