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A review by rebeccaariss
Ink in Water: An Illustrated Memoir (Or, How I Kicked Anorexia's Ass and Embraced Body Positivity) by Lacy J. Davis, Jim Kettner
5.0
"Be sad. Like, really fucking sad. Just cry a bunch and then get mad at how societal pressure is making you cry. Get so, so mad. Listen to Bikini Kill. Maybe start a band and funnel all your sad and mad into it. Sad and mad can be great. They have power."
I LOVED THIS BOOK.
I had recently read another graphic novel about EDs and honestly they were both wonderful. I found this one a little more relatable in terms of the character.
I love that she's a vegan living a rad punk lifestyle. The punk culture aspects of this book were fun to read. I love that she maintains that veganism is an ethical choice and supports that veganism is healthy (fighting the unfortunate misconception that all vegans have eating disorders, are unhealthy/weak, etc). I love that she's bisexual and proud of it. I love that she doesn't care about beauty norms (re: rad punk lifestyle). I love that she reflects on the things she learned through her partners... and that she recognizes that you don't have to be "recovered" in order to be in a romantic relationship (in fact - she emphasizes that recovery is a forever process).
I would happily read this again. A wonderful, hopeful story.
Thank you, Lacy, for your vulnerability and your art.
One final thought: I appreciate that the author didn't sugar coat OA and 12-step programs in general. She didn't hesitate to critique the religious (and cult-like?) aspects of such groups (fear of God, fear of death if members leave the group, rhetoric around fear in general). She also did not hesitate to explain how the group helped her, even as a critically thinking and intelligent participant.
My understanding from what she has written is that 12-step programs don't work for everyone... Sometimes they can actually play into the need for control that often goes along with EDs. As in: as long as members are moving up the steps in the program, they are moving towards recovery. But the line between sickness and recovery wasn't so clear for Lacy. Not in the same way that someone who attends AA or NA can draw a clear line between being sober and using. With drugs and alcohol, you either use or you don't. With eating disorders, though? We all have a warped relationship with our bodies and with food. We're inundated with so much bullshit media that we struggle to differentiate between our own thoughts and what is subconsciously (or consciously) there because of the body-shaming culture that we live in. So disordered thinking can be extremely difficult to recognize and manage. The line between sickness and recovery becomes a bit blurry.
Lacy also includes a brief page where she explains how to recover from an eating disorder (the quote above is an excerpt from this page) as well as reference to her blog, which I will definitely be visiting.
I would love to read more by this author. I just have nothing bad to say about this book!!!
I LOVED THIS BOOK.
I had recently read another graphic novel about EDs and honestly they were both wonderful. I found this one a little more relatable in terms of the character.
I love that she's a vegan living a rad punk lifestyle. The punk culture aspects of this book were fun to read. I love that she maintains that veganism is an ethical choice and supports that veganism is healthy (fighting the unfortunate misconception that all vegans have eating disorders, are unhealthy/weak, etc). I love that she's bisexual and proud of it. I love that she doesn't care about beauty norms (re: rad punk lifestyle). I love that she reflects on the things she learned through her partners... and that she recognizes that you don't have to be "recovered" in order to be in a romantic relationship (in fact - she emphasizes that recovery is a forever process).
I would happily read this again. A wonderful, hopeful story.
Thank you, Lacy, for your vulnerability and your art.
One final thought: I appreciate that the author didn't sugar coat OA and 12-step programs in general. She didn't hesitate to critique the religious (and cult-like?) aspects of such groups (fear of God, fear of death if members leave the group, rhetoric around fear in general). She also did not hesitate to explain how the group helped her, even as a critically thinking and intelligent participant.
My understanding from what she has written is that 12-step programs don't work for everyone... Sometimes they can actually play into the need for control that often goes along with EDs. As in: as long as members are moving up the steps in the program, they are moving towards recovery. But the line between sickness and recovery wasn't so clear for Lacy. Not in the same way that someone who attends AA or NA can draw a clear line between being sober and using. With drugs and alcohol, you either use or you don't. With eating disorders, though? We all have a warped relationship with our bodies and with food. We're inundated with so much bullshit media that we struggle to differentiate between our own thoughts and what is subconsciously (or consciously) there because of the body-shaming culture that we live in. So disordered thinking can be extremely difficult to recognize and manage. The line between sickness and recovery becomes a bit blurry.
Lacy also includes a brief page where she explains how to recover from an eating disorder (the quote above is an excerpt from this page) as well as reference to her blog, which I will definitely be visiting.
I would love to read more by this author. I just have nothing bad to say about this book!!!