Louise O'Neill: 'I'm the acceptable face of recovery – it's more comfortable to talk openly about eating disorders when the person looks like me'

Louise O'Neill: 'I'm the acceptable face of recovery – it's more comfortable to talk openly about eating disorders when the person looks like me'

It's something I've become increasingly aware of in my nearly seven years of recovery: that I was afforded a tremendous amount of privilege for recovering in a skinny body

“Ever since I was a teenager, I heard some variation of these words from men: You have a good body.” Author Louise O'Neill. Photo: Anna Groniecka

Since I was a teenager, I heard some variation of these words from men: you have a good body.

I quickly learned what that meant – basically being skinny with D cups – and this constant reduction of my personality to those two factors made me hate my body and see it as a bargaining chip.