Leona Gage reaches pinnacle of acknowledged beauty only to lead a sad and difficult life. If you obsess about your beauty, youth and shape, please take heed.

Leona is 18 in this 1957 picture, just crowned as Miss U.S.A. She's pretending to be 21.

Truth behind the photo? She married at 14. At 16 she had two children.

Years ago, when the issue of  "informed consent" was first brought up, I attended many gatherings of experienced mental health clinicians in Los Angeles, where we discussed what the term really meant.

Signing an agreement did not, we decided, meet the standard of informed consent if the person were incapable of being informed.

What happens when a woman with an eating disorder shows up for a "casting call" for a reality TV program?

No, people suffering from eating disorders should not be turned into fodder for the entertainment industry. I'm a psychotherapist in Los Angeles specializing in eating disorder recovery for adult women. I get at least two calls a week from producers or their lackeys asking me to help them find people with eating disorders for their shows.

They also ask me to talk to my patients and encourage them to be on such shows. Confidentiality, respect for the healing experience, and honor for the individual's process go out the window in search of ratings based on voyeuristic interests.