Cipher Essay—The Value of the Fast
By Benedict Wright
In 1998, a group of Colorado College students decided to protest possible U.S. involvement in Iraq by refusing to eat for one day. They hung up posters encouraging students to join them in their fast. Angered and disturbed by this approach, one student took to the pages of the Catalyst to protest the protest. The student argued that such an invitation to abstain from eating was detrimental to both physical and mental health. Far from being a positive gesture of goodwill and solidarity, she said, the fast contributed to the destructive notion that eating is negative and not eating is positive. For this student, putting value on self-denial—especially denial of food—was evidently harmful. As proof, she referenced an article that had appeared in the Catalyst the previous month that discussed the widespread epidemic of eating disorders among college students, particularly female college students. According to the writer, a protest encouraging students to fast was not only insensitive to students struggling with eating disorders, but in fact condoned and encouraged unhealthy eating habits. The student urged those planning the protest to call off the fast.