Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Xu.
Hi Sarah, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have been dancing ever since I could walk, but I never realized a dance environment could be toxic until I experienced one in middle school. My new instructor was brutal and never failed to make remarks on my thighs and stomach, and her severe comments made me develop disordered eating habits and extreme body image issues at the ripe age of 11. However, even though I knew something was wrong about the way I thought about and saw my body, I would always think that my problems were too minuscule. I called myself ridiculous for having such an awful mindset about my body when all my check-ups with the doctor told me I was a healthy weight. Things got a lot worse when I got on social media, and that’s when I realized how bad ED culture is, especially online. I would look through the comments under a TikTok of a girl doing a simple outfit check at the beach, and every couple of scrolls would have a person talking about how they need to stop eating so much, or how the video makes them miss their eating disorder, and other things that I found insane. But it’s become so normalized to make comments like that, so people just get ignored. Seeing all this prompted me to think about how I could change this negativity. I’ve always wanted to be the person who steps up and helps do something for their community, but it wasn’t until some of my own good friends confided in me about their own disordered eating and body dysmorphia that I became absolutely determined to build an initiative that can help people like the ones in TikTok comment sections, the ones who are too afraid to reach out, or the ones who grew up in destructive dance environments like I did. Now, I’m proud to say that The EmpowerED Initiative has been able to directly support hundreds of people, including me.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There have definitely been some bumps on the road during this journey. A big part is the negativity and skepticism from other people. Having an eating disorder is a vulnerable and real thing, and it’s gut-wrenching when someone discredits that. One time I was chatting with a friend about EmpowerED and they made a snarky comment about how eating disorders don’t exist. There was another instance where a classmate made fun of me for making a nonprofit that is related to eating disorder support. Hearing things like that never fail to make me upset, but I’ve learned to use their cynicism as fuel for building a caring community and proving that the work I’m doing is vital.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about The EmpowerED Initiative?
The EmpowerED Initiative is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated toward providing support for overlooked individuals who are dealing with an eating disorder or body dysmorphia at any point in their journey, whether they are heading to recovery or struggling to figure out if they even have an ED or not. We focus on creating tangible and genuine awareness through the implementation of our programs, among them including our Recovery Library, anonymous Hotline Forum, Hospital Campaigns, and Ambassadors. Our Hotline Forum has received over 100 messages from people who are silently grappling with body image issues, and our hotline forum volunteers respond to each one with empathy. Additionally, our Recovery Library garners a variety of different pieces, from poems to infographics, all written by our recovery library volunteers. It also includes our new Unfiltered Collection—personal stories featuring people who have or had an ED. Moreover, our “Dear Fighter” hospital campaigns connect hospital campaign volunteers to patients hospitalized for an eating disorder by the deliveries of our care packages containing handwritten letters, crafts, and other small gifts. Our ambassador program is another one of our more unique projects, where we partner with social media influencers who use their voices to spread body positivity so we can create online campaigns to rid platforms of ED culture’s toxicity.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
I see EmpowerED continuing to flourish and reach more and more people as the years go by. I also see our chapters increasing and “Dear Fighter” care packages being distributed to as many patients as possible, along with our online campaigns overtaking certain sides of social media platforms. Our mission won’t ever change, but I do think we will be able to approach/take on initiatives with more meaningful perspectives after further experience.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.theempoweredinitiative.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.empowered.initiative/
