Anorexia sufferers undergo self-erasure as a result of their disease in several respects. As they physically eliminate themselves through starvation, they also eliminate their sexual identities. Muscle and fatty tissue that would identify them as men or women get smaller and disappear as the disease progresses. At its worst, the disease also eliminates age. Skin that was once full becomes wrinkled and hollow, taking on the appearance of age well beyond that of the victims of this illness.
The girl shown in the illustration below is the first known sufferer to die from the disease. When she passed away in 1895, she had not only erased all signs of her gender, but also had skin that looked like that of a woman at the end of her long life.
Anorexic Women
