Jane Fonda

Jane Fonda

Jane Fonda says she developed a negative body image after she overheard her actor dad Henry criticise her looks.

The Barbarella star was 'traumatised' after the screen legend made a disparagin remark about her body, and insists the incident contributed to a lifelong obsession with her appearance.

She tells You magazine: "I was brought up to feel fat, though my father wouldn't tell me directly - he'd get one of his wives (Fonda married five times) to tell me that I shouldn't wear a bikini. One day, I overheard him talking about me and I can't even tell you what he said because it traumatised me and I can't pretend I'll ever get over it.

"So I was the product of objectifying parents and also a product of the #50s, when the way a woman looked was so important. It's why I pay attention to my appearance now. I believed that to be loved you had to be perfect, and even though I've got over that now, it took a long time."

Fonda went on to battle bulimia and admits none of her three husbands noticed her eating disorder.

She adds: "We devlop addictions because we're missing something and my addiction was food. I moved outside myself, left a big, empty space inside, and tried to fill it with food. I went through phases of bingeing and purging and it was many years before I could sit at a table without feeling anxiety. Bulimia is very easy to hide, but you can't be intimate with people if you're an addict."


by for www.femalefirst.co.uk
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