No I agree with this, if it sounds like I was implying the mom was using her for money - I wasn't. could be Munchhausen's by proxy, could be attention on which i'm not gonna armchair.
No, not you at all. It’s mostly YT I see repeat this shit, but occasionally posts here. The YT’s are all trying to grift off Eugenia by doing terrible clickbait videos and since all their terrible content is about getting YT $$$ they can’t fathom it might not be the main motivator of others.
I am curious what kind of money Eugenia makes now a days. Once upon a time she could/would have made significant money, lived well as an influencer in LA, but given her appearance all her fame has been tied to ED for years now. No sponsors or corporate ad bucks would come her way. Is all her income now related to superchat/twitch subs or are their other income streams on twitch just for viewer numbers?
I’ve wondered if part of her mom’s sycophant behavior is because, unlike most severe anachans, Eugenia could move out and starve herself to death in a nice apartment without mom’s help. If mom doesn’t play along with Eugenia’s mental illness, Eugenia can just take her toys, make-up and move out. Mom believes current arrangement and playing along, is better than what would happen if Eugenia lived alone.
Most severe anorexics become dependent on their parents to care for and support them. It allows the parents to at least confront and communicate about the issue, if not solve it. (Think the Vegan Ginger, she had to move home for years after her ED spiraled. Lich Queen Ashley was cared for by mom for a decade. Now Ashley is on disability and basically gets to live in a state funded nursing home or some sort of shelter funded for disabled adults.). Many girls even cling to anorexia because it ensures they remain dependent child, no adult expectations or responsibilities.
Does Eugenia’s “career” give her leverage to make mom play along with the “natural skinny minney” fantasy. Eugenia does nothing but constantly deflect online about her weight, health, ED. It’s a practiced skill set at this point. I think she would have similar behavior with mom.
The leverage Eugenia’s income/career gives her is unusual for a severe anachan. In the past, even anorexic models or dancers, when they got within 25 lbs of Eugenia’s weight, were considered unusable, and their careers over, unless the gained enough pounds to look human. Going from model in NYC, to moving home for mom to care for, motivated many to get help. Eugenia has managed to carve out a career being the most famous anorexic streamer, after her appearance became too grotesque for any modeling/fashion stuff, famous anorexic became her identity.
The avoidance of conflict seems like it runs deep in the Cooney house. Given how she felt about being “ambushed” by an intervention I’m going to bet any ED discussion with mom has been off limits for a long long time. Mom feels tackling the issue could lead to something worse. Eugenia is too fragile for such serious talk and negativity.
Though at this point I can’t believe Eugenia living independently could be a legit worry. Eugenia obviously wants to be a permanent child cared for by mom while she has “fun” online. Anorexia is her way to remain a 14 year old girl indefinitely and mom seems to want that too. Any issues or ideas Eugenia might have entertained about being an independent adult were snuffed out in Los Angeles.
It’s no coincidence that when Eugenia did move out there, it was with her mom. The whole LA move was bizarre. I get the idea Eugenia wanted to try out the influencer life in LA, talked about enough to worry her mom so an excuse was found to make it a family affair. In a way the intervention did toxic mom a favor. Instead of using it to confront the ED issue, it made Eugenia realize staying with enabling mommy was the way.
I doubt the idea of adult independence has any appeal to Eugenia currently, in fact it terrifies her, but she might play on her mom’s fear of it just to maintain the status quo to her liking.
The reality is her mom prefers codependent anorexic Eugenia at home to the alternative of healthy, adult daughter who would live her own independent life without mom constantly at her side.