When Thinness Becomes Our "Ultimate Purpose"

I was talking with a radio host the other day, explaining what I mean by "The Religion of Thinness."

"But most women," she said, "aren't trying to lose weight for religious reasons." Of course, she is right. Most women don't consciously associate their desire to be slender with something spiritual. And yet...

....for many women, the relentless quest to be thinner has many of the features of traditional religions-i.e., beliefs, myths, images, rituals, moral codes, etc.-all encouraging the pursuit of happiness and well being through weight loss. And for some women, the prospect of a slender body comes to function as a kind of "ultimate concern," or what I call an "ultimate purpose."

I'm borrowing this concept from the 20th century Lutheran theologian, Paul Tillich. He used the term "ultimate concern" as a way of speaking about God. It was his way of describing what is most fundamental in life, that which is sacred and gives us meaning, grounding and orienting our daily strivings. Tillich pointed out that human beings have a tendency to adopt "ultimate concerns" that aren't really ultimate at all (i.e., money, power, and other self-interested desires). When they do, he cautioned, they become alienated from themselves and from the power of life itself.

If you ask women what is most sacred to them-what is their "ultimate purpose"-most of them will likely say things like God, their families, a healthy mind and body, loving and serving others, world peace, and so forth. Few of us would say that being thin is what really matters. And yet, many of us spend vast amounts of energy devoted to the cause of trimming our bodies. In effect, this cause functions as our "ultimate purpose," orienting and preoccupying our day-to-day thinking (as in: "how many calories were in that muffin?") and guiding our choices and behaviors (as in: "I'm going to skip the movie with my friends and go to the gym instead so I can burn off dinner"). On a very real and practical level, the goal of thinness is not just "ultimate" for many women. It is all-consuming.

Part of what makes The Religion of Thinness so appealing is that it gives its followers a clear sense of purpose: a slender body. This sense of purpose is seductive because it temporarily alleviates the hunger for meaning that is part of the human condition. It's hard to give up something that gives you so much meaning, something that gives you a clear direction and provides an anchor in the sea of life's uncertainties and possibilities.

Unfortunately, the "ultimate purpose" of thinness cannot adequately address the spiritual needs that draw us to it, which is why, in the end, it tends to deepen the emptiness it is supposed to fill. As an "ultimate purpose," thinness is much to narrow to provide the guidance and support we truly need to navigate the real difficulties of our lives.

Those of us who seek to deprogram ourselves from The Religion of Thinness will need to find alternative sources of meaning-new myths, rituals, beliefs, values, and images that ground us and help us and stay in touch with what truly matters. The good news is that we already possess the wisdom we need to move in this direction. For on some level, we know that thinness is not our "ultimate purpose." The more we listen to this wise voice within, the more capable we will be of relinquishing false security of an impoverished religion.