Is 'Drunkorexia' Really a Thing? Meh.
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Since time immemorial, fresh-faced collegiate youngsters have been skipping Tostada Bowl Day at the dining hall in anticipation of the “Babies and Mommies” party later tonight at ΑΤΩ.* Drinking on an empty stomach is as integral to the college experience as shower-flops and Glee Club incest—it facilitate maximal drunkenness at minimal cost. You get drunk faster on fewer drinks, which means you spend less money and you consume fewer Zima calories (plus you’re already running on a deficit because your tostado-less stomach hasn’t digested anything since yesterday!). And now, apparently, there’s a term for it: “drunkorexia.”
Drinking on an empty stomach is dangerous and awful, and it has probably caused the lion’s share of the world’s most embarrassing moments.** But does drinking-while-hungry—the practice of “saving” food calories so one can spend them on drink calories—really constitute its own eating disorder? Isn’t anorexia just anorexia, regardless of the way it manifests itself in conjunction with alcohol abuse? And when we teach women that being thin is the most important thing, and that being “fun” (i.e. available and pliant) is the second most important thing, are we really surprised when women find innovative ways to marry drinking and calorie restriction?
Here’s Jacoba Urist in the Atlantic: