I found Rachel’s blog (check first link) on sites that encourage eating disorders shocking. Since I had a similar problem in my teens, I found the revelation of these sites quite disgusting. But, before I'd put down my thoughts, I decided to do some reseach on the net by looking at other articles and visiting the actual sites. Speaking of the latter, I was very disturbed at the idea of an anorexic building up a site for people like herself.Its hard to judge whether these sites are bad because the intent is not malignant. I understand that life can be very isolating when surrounded by family and friends who don't know what they are going through and harshly judge them as "ill". So its not surprising that they turn to the net to find people they can relate to and build friendships from there. I'm not saying that this justifies what they do. If anything, what I find unsettling is that the sufferers are living in a cyber pretense. They want people to tell them that what they are doing is Okay when deep down they know its not. They want the easy option of carrying on with what they are doing instead of the gruelling process of recovery, as its not easy to switch from the idea of "annorexy" to "curvalious". Also, these sites aren't forcing or encouraging those who aren't anorexic to do the same. If you look on the Thinspiration website, it clearly states: "i would not encourage anybody to attempt to find ana" (ana is what the suffer has called her condition). I won't include the link here because its a sensitive issue.
Yet, it doesn't make these sites right as they encourage each other to to gradually kill themselves. Its also bad because it affects the friends and families of the sufferers. I don't have kids, but I can imagine the intense pain of losing a child at such a young age. I do think that sites like these should be shut down as they do no good for the sufferers. But what I find mindboggling is that if the person who set up the Thinspiration knows what she has is a nightmare, why is she encouraging people like her to carry on as opposed to encouraging them to get help?
One person argued in the comment section (see second link) that shutting these sites down is ridiculous. They say it's the responsiblity of the person viewing these sites and as for youngsters, the parents will be at fault, not the site itself. I strongly disagree. Most teenagers keep their disorder a secret from their parents. Who the hell is going to say, "Mum, I'm going to starve myself!". Young girls will hide food in their bedroom and make excuses so that their parents won't suspect. If these sites were shut down, sufferers won't have a haven where people tell them that they are not ill and thus will need to go to recovery.
Most won’t find this quest for thiness surprising, since we live in a society where rail thin models and celebrities are plastered everywhere from the pages of magazines to billboards. However, I think it’s short sighted to put ALL the blame onto the fashion industry and celebrity culture. Celebrities are bullied into looking like that due to magazines such as Heat that harshly criticise those who have piled on the pounds. Fashion magazines do glamorize skinny models; however you won’t find a caption or line that takes the Mick out of someone’s weight or encourage women to be rail thin. I read magazines such as Elle and Marie Claire and I’ve no intention to lose weight.
However, do women choose to be insecure by buying these bitchy magazines? I personally think so. I find it uncomprehendable why someone would want to buy a magazine that makes a mockery out of women their own size and shape. Despite the high sales of these magazines and insecure women’s strange obsession with this, it still doesn’t make this sort of journalism acceptable. If anything, it only encourages women’s obsession with weight and body shape, which in turn leads to problems such as anxiety and even worse, eating disorders.
However, do women choose to be insecure by buying these bitchy magazines? I personally think so. I find it uncomprehendable why someone would want to buy a magazine that makes a mockery out of women their own size and shape. Despite the high sales of these magazines and insecure women’s strange obsession with this, it still doesn’t make this sort of journalism acceptable. If anything, it only encourages women’s obsession with weight and body shape, which in turn leads to problems such as anxiety and even worse, eating disorders.
On one of the comments (see third link), someone mentioned that unless curvacious models and celebrities are celebrated, bullemia and anorexia will always be around. Personally, I disagree. I don't think promoting the bodies of Kelly Brooke and Beyonce is going to help as that will also require dieting and excersise to get that in-proportion shape, which is where the obession starts. When a pound is lost, the dieter will fell the need to lose another to the point where they are out of control. Instead of projecting one idead of beauty, the media should promote a wide specrum of lovelies both big and small. That way, no-one will feel inadequate and feel the need to change. But I doubt that will ever happen, as magazines and the beauty industry make their money out of making people feel bad and providing solutions, such as the latest diet that'll make you lose weight quicker.
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1 comment:
I too had issues with food and have come across some of these sites before. The person who commented that it would be ridiculous to shut down the sites because the individual is responsible for what they view online, is clearly missing a major point. People in the grips of these disorders or those in the mindset where they could fall victim, are not thinking rationally. If they were they wouldnt be willingly starving themselves.
In my experience the best aid for recovery is being surrounded by people with a healthy attitude to food. I know for a fact those sites include 'tips' on starving and purging, and that members encourage and 'support' each other in their quests to be skin and bone.
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