Her relationship with her parents, for example, becomes difficult, and she finds that it is increasingly difficult for her to deal with their perception of her. Having a dysfunctional relationship with food also leads to a dysfunction in every other relationship as well, and if not dysfunctional, each relationship is governed by the way in which others view excessive weight. Eventually, she became obese, and then morbidly obese, finally receiving a diagnosis of super-morbidly obese as she strove to become physically repulsive to men and to keep them away from her all together.
Gay gained most of her weight shortly after her abuse at the time she realized that she was comforting and emotionally medicating herself with food, and she later came to realize that she was subconsciously insulating herself from the outside world as well, and protecting herself from unwanted attention. This is something that the book's author, Roxanne Gay, also experienced and speaks to very early on in her narrative. Watch any episode of My 600lb Life and you will see that there is a direct, and oft-repeated, correlation between childhood sexual abuse and obesity. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own. These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community.
