Many Post-Soviet Girls Were Taught That Worth Comes From Discipline and Appearance. But This Mindset Has a Cost.
We were taught to push through discomfort. To demand more from ourselves. To stay strong and not show vulnerability.
For many, control over the body became a way to prove strength. But this mindset may come with real psychological risks.
A large study of Russian adolescents found that 3.9% of girls showed signs of bulimia, and these girls were more likely to struggle with depression and anxiety.
Another study from Siberia reported that about 12% of schoolgirls aged 11–17 experience eating disorders, often even when their weight is considered normal.
Researchers identified low self-esteem and perfectionism as major risk factors.
Cultural pressure matters too. Research shows that in Russia, thinness is often linked to success, willpower, and social value. Appearance can shape how women are judged: both socially and professionally.
Eating disorders are never caused by culture alone. But culture shapes the standards we grow up with, long before we question them.
Strength is important. Discipline is valuable. But when perfection becomes the price of self-worth, it becomes dangerous.
Looking at these patterns is not about rejecting where we come from.
It is about redefining strength, and making room for both resilience and self-acceptance.
“Alisa Project” starts this conversation because these beliefs affected the quality of life of the person behind it, and the lives of many others.
Awareness is where change begins.
References:
Krasnoyarsk Science Center, Almost every ninth schoolgirl in Siberia has an eating disorder.https://lnkd.in/e-uaVCrj
Koposov et al., Bulimia Symptoms in Russian Youth: Prevalence and Association With Internalizing Problems, Frontiers in Psychiatry.https://lnkd.in/euGkUkUQ
Louisville Eat Lab, Anorexia Nervosa in Russia.https://lnkd.in/efwZD-4s
