virtue as vocation – Little Bristling Soul

From “Historical and developmental roots of female dependency” by Marcia Westkott

Unlike other kinds of addictions, anorexia disguises itself as virtue. The anorexic is a modern-day phrenologist, searching for saintliness and vice in the bone structure of strangers. She is at once insane, dying, and inhumane.

https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/anorexia-the-impossible-subject

Damien Hirst

The Martyrdom of Saint James the Lesser, 2002-2003, Nickel plated stainless steel and glass cabinet with medical glassware and various objects, 70 7/8 x 36 7/16 x 10 5/16 in. (180 x 92.5 x 26.2 cm), White Cube

The Martyrdom of Saint James the Greater, 2002 – 2003, 1800 x 925 x 262 mm | 70.9 x 36.4 x 10.4 in, Glass, stainless steel, steel, nickel, brass, rubber, Bunsen burners, blooded sword, wallet, porcelain horse, scallop shells, plastic tubing, laboratory glassware and equipment

The Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew, 2002-2003, Nickel plated stainless steel and glass cabinet with medical glassware and various objects, 70 7/8 x 36 7/16 x 10 5/16 in. (180 x 92.5 x 26.2 cm), White Cube

The Death of Saint John, 2002-2003, Nickel plated stainless steel and glass cabinet with medical glassware and various objects, 70 7/8 x 36 7/16 x 10 5/16 in. (180 x 92.5 x 26.2 cm), White Cube

The Martyrdom of Saint Peter, 2002-2003, Nickel plated stainless steel and glass cabinet with medical glassware and various objects, 70 7/8 x 36 7/16 x 10 5/16 in. (180 x 92.5 x 26.2 cm), White Cube

The Martyrdom of Saint Andrew, 2002-2003, Nickel plated stainless steel and glass cabinet with medical glassware and various objects, 70 7/8 x 36 7/16 x 14 3/16 in. (180 x 92.5 x 36 cm), White Cube

The Suicide of Judas Iscariot, 2002-2003, Black powder coated cabinet with stainless steel back plate, medical glassware and various objects, 94 ½ x 38 3/8 x 23 5/8 in. (240 x 97.5 x 60 cm), White Cube

The Martyrdom of Saint Simon, 2002-2003, Nickel plated stainless steel and glass cabinet with medical glassware and various objects, 70 7/8 x 39 9/16 x 10 5/16 in. (180 x 100.5 x 26.2 cm), White Cube

The Martyrdom of Saint Jude, 2002 – 20031800 x 925 x 262 mm | 70.9 x 36.4 x 10.4 in, Glass, stainless steel, steel, nickel, brass, rubber, Bunsen burner, wooden crucifix, Thermos liners, nails, wooden club with blood and hair, lump hammer, Dymo tape (boxed), bottle stoppers, laboratory glassware and equipment

The Martyrdom of Saint Thomas, 2002 – 2003, 1800 x 925 x 262 mm | 70.9 x 36.4 x 10.4 in, Glass, stainless steel, steel, nickel, brass, rubber, blood, rosary beads, filleting knife, ruler, set square, plastic tubing, wooden rack, blooded roman spears and laboratory glassware

topcat77:

Marlene Dumas

Like me, the Alien is anorexic. Sometimes we talk about our malabsorption problems. Everything turns to shit. Food’s uncontrollable. If only it were possible to circumvent the throat, the stomach and the small intestine and digest food just by seeing. After several weeks, the Alien decides that he will no longer make love to me because I’m ‘not the One.’ Aliens spend their lifetimes on this planet testing, searching. They get dewy-eyed, nostalgic about hometown virgins.

Chris Kraus, Aliens & Anorexia

James Richardson, Vectors: Thirty-six Aphorisms and Ten-Second Essays

Those who demand consideration for their sacrifices were making investments, not sacrifices.

Maggie Nelson, The Argonauts

from The Narcissistic / Borderline Couple: New Approaches to Marital Therapy by Joan Lachkar:

Susan Bordo, Anorexia Nervosa: Psychopathology as the Crystallization of a Culture