'The Stigma' Buzzfeed Article

Most people who have ever said that they are vegetarian/vegan/gluten/dairy etc. intolerant will recognise the rolled eyes of people when they tell them about their dietary requirements. These people seem to think that they are doing it to be awkward or different when in actual fact they are being narrow minded. This idea was highlighted in the 'How I Gave Myself Permission To Be Gluten-Free' article on Buzzfeed.

'I wasn't thinking about the higher incidences of cancer associated with celiac disease, or the likely bouts of infertility or osteoporosis — I was freaking about about being perceived as That Girl. 

Who is That Girl? At least the way she exists in my mind, she's white and privileged. She's wearing Uggs and Lululemon and has an Instagram-ready manicure. She considers Sex and the City an instructional manual for life and takes medical advice from reality stars. And she cycles through trendy diets faster than her RPM at SoulCycle, from Skinny Bitch to Jennifer Hudson-era Weight Watchers to the current craze: Wheat Belly. And so, of course, she dropped gluten from her fair-trade, BPA-free diet after the first mention of its evils in a Goop newsletter. 

I think That Girl makes me uncomfortable because she is so fully invested in — obsessed with, maybe — how she appears to others. Everything must be on point and on fleek. That Girl changes her diet whenever there's a new Dr. Oz episode about it, less because she cares about her health than because she wants to be on trend — and thin. She wears Lululemon for the logo, not for the quality. She drinks Pumpkin Spice Lattes for the hashtag, not the flavor.'

The woman in the article discusses how when she was diagnosed with coeliac disease, it wasn't that her diet was going to change forever that troubled her but rather the misconception that other people have that she is doing it purely to fit in with a new crowd. This I feel is largely due to the fact that many celebrities have adopted gluten free lifestyles in an effort to lose weight, proving to other people that there is actually no problem with gluten at all it is just purely for vanity. Celebrities such as Kourtney Kardashian who has influenced her family to become gluten and diary free from getting a 'muscle test' initiated, something that is not scientifically proven, has influenced a surge of people taking up the diet as they believe it will make them look like a Kardashian. 

'She explains that it wasn’t a necessity, the way it is for many people, but it’s improved their quality of life.

“I kept battling with myself back and forth — like, why am I doing this diet? I have always felt fine before when eating dairy and gluten, but I do believe that we have one life to live and I would like to live it feeling my best,” Kardashian writes in a post on her app. “I have noticed a great positive change in behavior with my children when we stick to a gluten-free and dairy-free diet. I don’t think everyone needs to eat this way but we had muscle testing done, which showed we all have sensitivities to corn, gluten and dairy.”

Although this has benefited her family in her opinion, to others it may seem unnecessary to inflict a limiting diet onto young children. She also talks about how she brings them home-made gluten free cupcakes to parties and refuses to let them eat others birthday cakes at events which is limiting the children from normal activities from a young age, a problem that many who suffer from it feel but seems a strange concept to inflict onto children who don't suffer from an intolerance.

In the Buzzfeed article she speaks about the temptation of eating gluten contained foods as something of intense and satisfying temptation and at the time don't consider the implications of what eating it will do, often met with thoughts of 'it'll be fine.'

 'I learned that there was a fine line between trying too hard and not trying hard enough to make room in my life for my new diagnosis. A few weeks post-email, I went out for dinner with my partner at a restaurant I had been pining after for months. I was pretty sure the chicken liver, which my therapist had raved about, was gluten-free. But then, of course, it arrived flanked by beautiful thick slices of challah, grilled in chicken fat. And between the gorgeous toasted-marshmallow scent of the bread and my sudden need to prove to the server that my diet wasn't regulated by the male gaze (or some pesky autoimmune disease), I couldn't resist. 

"Even Paleo people get cheat days," I whispered to myself as I inhaled the challah. The exhausting gluten hangover I suffered through for the next few days was enough to make me avoid gluten full-time after that.

This article is a crucial piece of evidence into the mindset and struggles of someone who suffers with the disease and that even someone with a strict lifestyle requirement there is still temptation. It is also important to point out that many people (mainly celebrities) are demeaning the problem that is gluten into something that can appear as a fad and something that is in fashion when in reality it will continue to limit sufferers forever.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/marmks/getting-over-gluten?utm_term=.lsEN23p3r#.eiPXWEBEd
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3786228/Kourtney-Kardashian-family-dairy-gluten-free-learning-dietary-sensitivities-New-Age-allergy-test.html
http://people.com/food/kourtney-kardashian-gluten-and-dairy-free/