I’m Just Not Hungry: A Zine About Surviving an Eating Disorder
Hattie Porter
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I’m Just Not Hungry: A Zine About Surviving an Eating Disorder is an A6 black on blue paper zine about dealing with disordered eating no matter what your specific diagnosis is.
Note: There is some gendered language in this zine. I read it as a consequence of the studies being referenced not accounting for trans or non-binary people.
I’m Just Not Hungry opens with a warm introduction in which Hattie writes about trying to cover a number of experiences no matter what your diagnosis or stage of recovery. As an ‘Eating Disorder NOS’, I appreciated that kind of inclusiveness.
From there, Hattie writes about the wonders of the human body and the importance of challenging beliefs in order to start/keep recovering. Hattie tackles subjects like weight and calories to provide a clinical view of them. Hattie also includes an ‘Important Notes’ section and wraps up with a section you can use to fill in reminders to yourself.
This was a tricky zine for me to read because I am so sensitive to the subject. It’s hard to read about the wonders of the human body when your body malfunctions due to incurable conditions. But once I mentally stepped back and focused on Hattie’s intention in making this zine, I found I got a lot from the words.
Hattie writes:
“Eating disorders are complicated… There will be parts of this zine that aren’t really relevant to you…”
I agree completely. I think if you approach this zine with that in mind, then you can pick and choose the gems that speak to you like I did. Hattie does a good job of a difficult task in encompassing a disorder with many different symptoms in a mostly general way.
This zine is about a sensitive subject and should be treated as such. That being said, I think that there is wisdom to find here if you’re up to reading it.