So we are all aware of stereotypes surrounding dancers and eating habits, but while compiling my data, I noticed a trend that I wanted to follow up briefly. As well as living in close proximity, when on a cruise ship, we also eat in close proximity. This is a very personal boundary that when crossed, can create all sorts of situations.
Dancers and diet is a major thing in the industry, a body dependent job, spending too much time in front of a mirror and social media all have an impact on individuals in some way or an other. Most of the time a dancer is aware of healthy nutrition, we are taught about it at college and my personal experience is that with the amount of exercise I do, I have a more than adequate appetite!
However, this is not always the case and eating disorders do occur and may or not be noticed! Yet in a day to day situation, you are probably most likely to see "a colleague" have one main meal (usually their lunch). On tour or on a boat however, every meal is shared, snack times are often shared and its easy to spot what people are eating... Or what they aren't.
Ironically, chatting over dinner, a few fellow dancers and I discussed a few negative situations that occurred where diet was being observed for all the wrong reasons. One girl, told me of how her company manger had gone behind her back to find out what she was eating as she suspected their was a problem, but like she pointed out, if she thought there was a personal problem, why didn't she deal with it personally.
Another situation was a girl on a contract, who had two girls spitefully discuss her weight and decided to act negatively towards her because "they thought she was going anorexic for attention"!
Obviously both these situations are dramatic and very much below the belt! Food and diet can be a delicate subject and it can be awkward, but when living in such close quarters, how is the best way to deal with a suspected eating disorder? Well ultimately I would say personally and one on one, but just because we are grouped together and suddenly become in each others pockets, how do we know their own personal eating habits? Paying too much attention to what others are eating is nosy, everybody is different, I could eat for England but my colleague could be satisfied with just a salad, my point being that getting too involved might go beyond the duty of care and could create more tension that's unneeded.
We all want to help and watching anyone suffer is not nice but minding your own business is important to. I would say that if there is a genuine cause of concern then raise it with your supervisor and hopefully they can monitor it. No matter how close you feel to someone or if you want to play hero, when living with someone, when it comes to personal habits like eating its not your place to judge and whether "you are just trying to help" or not you can have a lot more of a negtaive impact!
Let me know your thoughts on this topic and if you have had any experiences with something like this!
No comments:
Post a Comment