During the debate for International Women’s Day in Parliament, Marie Tidball, Member of Parliament for Penistone and Stocksbridge, opened up about her own experience of anorexia as a teenager; describing it as a way to cope with her a disability as she navigated her body image growing up.
Marie revealed in her speech that:
“[she] was anorexic for four years from being aged fourteen. And whilst [she] was physically better by the time [she] went to University, it took [her] until [her] mid-twenties to have a healthy relationship with food.”
Marie read out some passages she had written when she was in her early twenties, over two decades ago, whilst recovering from her last major surgery to her legs. Marie described how she felt about her disability during the time she was anorexic:
“When they amputated my leg, they amputated a part of me. I [saw] my body and I [felt] disgust, repulsion. I fear[ed] that my amputation took away my femininity, my ability to be yearned for; my womanhood pauperized. Trapped in a body that [did] not reflect my mind or my Self.”
“Anorexia, unplanned, like an addiction, crept upon me. I ate less and became thinner. My wish: that nobody would notice my disability and I would simply disappear – a physical escapism. For the first time in my life, the eating disorder gave me control over my body; the way it looked, the way it felt. My frustration about my physical form turned into obsession; the obsession fed me where food did not: it gave me power.”
“Success became feeling bones left behind under taut skin; in knowing my pelvis protruded below a small waist, cheek bones were prominent on a smile-less face...Weight: 4 st 10lbs. My body was breaking down, I was losing my hair, and my periods stopped. My menstruation ending ultimately saved me. Somewhere, at the back of my head, I knew I wanted to have children. Eventually, I took the pill, my periods started again, I ate more. My desire to be a mother gave me a reason to get better, signalled a future and made me know choice.”
In her speech, Marie made clear that “[d]evastatingly, two decades after I wrote those passages, social attitudes towards sex, relationships and disability remain an enormous taboo; which means disabled women are still going through this anguish, damaging their mental health, causing them to self-harm and eroding their self-esteem.”
These damaging attitudes and the lack of awareness of these issues are also leading disabled women to face barriers in public services including accessing sexual and reproductive health and maternity care. She highlighted that in maternity care, this results in a 44% higher risk of stillbirth for disabled mothers.
Marie went onto tell MPs that she has She has "lost count” of the number of disabled people she has ended up mentoring, who have self-harmed or attempted suicide because of these issues and the lack of services and expertise. She also highlighted about the experiences; of a number of other disabled women she has spoken to, who have had similar experiences linked to their own body image and identity, as well as barriers in accessing high-quality healthcare as disabled women.
This includes Melissa Johns, an actor and disability activist, Carly Tait, a former Paralympiad, and Sophie Bradbury-Cox, a social media influencer. They have all spoken publicly about the barriers they faced as a result of negative social attitudes towards them as disabled women and disabled mother.
Marie told MPs that we need to “turn the tide on public attitudes towards disabled people, particularly empowering young disabled people to have more positive perceptions of self”. She raised incredible examples of “green shoots of representation...appearing on our screens”, including on Eastenders and Bridgerton, as well as through social media.
Dr Tidball called for the government to include push further to include representation of disabled people in PSHE lessons in schools as part of curriculum reforms. Dr Tidball also called to “finally embed the social model of disability into women’s healthcare”, including implementing the recommendations made by the United Nation’s Committee on People with Disabilities, in 2017 to mainstream the rights of disabled women and girls.
__Following the speech, Marie Tidball MP: __
“It was a vulnerable moment, but an important moment to stand up and speak about my own experience of anorexia and mental health, as one of the only visibly disabled MPs in Parliament. I know I am not alone. I made this speech in Parliament feeling the weight of responsibility of 16 million disabled people stood or sat behind me. I want to use my place in the House of Commons to give a voice to other disabled women who have felt like me.
“Disability must no longer be cast as absence, but complete full-bodied presence. To be loved is to be seen. It is high time our society sees disabled women’s whole selves. For only then, will we create a society which treats us with the dignity and respect we deserve.
“I’ll keep working with other incredible disabled women to change the provision of mental health, sexual and reproductive healthcare, and maternity care services for disabled women and girls that is so desperately needed, and to change public attitudes and break down barriers for us all.”
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