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Title: Fitting in
Date: May 20, 2016
By: Brandi Barkley
City: ogdensburg
State: ny
Age: 16
Grade: 10
Rachel began playing with Barbie dolls at a very young age and always admired how "perfectly sculpted" the dolls bodies were. As Rachel grew older she began to realize that society had unrealistic expectations for women's bodies. Rachel started to feel out of place around her friends because she had a different body structure than them. It wasn't long before Rachel started to shut people out and isolate herself because she was uncomfortable in her own skin. Rachel desperately wanted to lose weight and feel as if she fit into the category of having "the perfect body." As time went on, Rachel realized that losing weight in a healthy way was taking too long so she began to go long periods of time without eating in hopes of slimming down her figure. People would tell Rachel that she was perfect the way she is and that she didn't have to change her image to fit into society, but with the best efforts of others encouragement she didn't believe them. Rachel was now under 100 pounds at the age of 17, which is extremely under weight. Rachel's parents brought her to the hospital because she became increasingly ill due to the lack of food intake. Rachel is now in recovery and surrounded by friends and family, getting stronger by the day.