Chen ’98 Advocates for Asian Americans with Eating Disorders

Lynn Chen ’98 writes on the blog, Thick Dumpling Skin, which she co-founded with Lisa Lee:

“If you read my food blog, you know that I struggled with binge eating and anorexia for many years. Although it’s no longer a real day-to-day battle for me, I remember the feelings all too well and thought I would share with you what my eating disorder looked like.

“I binged probably once a week for most of my late-twenties. It started off as my “cheat day” – I was in the midst of my trying-every-diet-under-the-sun phase and I liked the idea of a full 16 hours of eating whatever I wanted. It soon became a habit I both dreaded and looked forward to.” (Click here to read the rest of her Feb. 17  posting.)

Lynn Chen ’98 is an advocate for Asian Americans with eating disorders. “Our struggles with food & body image are not merely about will power – they’re social, cultural, and familial,” she notes on the site. She has also done a video for the National Organization of Women and will be a featured speaker at their national conference this June.

Chen is also an actor—a profession that focuses on appearance and which exacerbated her concerns about body image. She had taken some time off from her work to deal with her eating disorders, and her newest movie is now out. She stars in Surrogate Valentine, a David Boyle film, along with musician Goh Nakamura and Chadd Stoops. It was was shown at the recent South By Southwest (SXSW) music festival and is now in festivals and locations across the country.