Nationwide, 12.3% of high school students had gone without eating for 24 hours or more to lose weight or to keep from gaining weight during the last 30 days.
These stats are just a few that I came across after watching ShaneDawsonTV’s “High School Drama!!!!” I always felt that eating disorders or ED has been a quiet topic to discuss in today’s world, but it isn’t! There is a new concept (well to me at least) called Thinspiration. Now while looking for an actual definition, I could only really take value from UrbanDictionary.com’s version stating that thinspiration is an image or photograph that fuels a person’s inspiration to be skinny. ARE YOU SERIOUS! So some girl (just has to be a girl from what I could find) thinks she is fat and grabs a photo of say another actress looking skinny and that’s her thinspiration to ummm BARF! What a piece of bologna!
Now I Googled searched this term and came across some results. There are actually sites out there that have people talking about their EDs and thinspirations. One site I came across is called “Thinspiration Pictures“. This site has photos that are labeled as thinspiration. Just pictures of girls who are “skinny”. Now how do you really know they are even like that–skinny or thin. Well, another site called Pretty Thin deals the same perception, but it is a site about “beauty” in your eyes. Pretty Thin claims that it is a site and a place of where people who are members have EDs. True I see that this a central place for people who have EDs to feel like they are welcomed here. I get that. However! I scrolled down some more in the about section and this question is posted:
Is PrettyThin a Pro-Anorexia Website?
Well. By just reading the homepage posts and reading all the information by this site’s owner, I conclude that this person is not a professional or really understands how words are put together. I am saying the owner of Pretty Thin sounds like a high schooler. Quote:
I think this is the most common question I’m asked. And this part is not one I am going to go to the members of the community to answer. This is something about ME, because I run this website.
I am sorry but I cannot take this person seriously if they are going to talk like this. I understand that the question is most common, but if this person wants to carry some professionalism and appeal to people who don’t have any EDs then… I believe better communicational skills are required and maybe some medical professional partnership to oversee the site’s communications and common underlying themes or impressions. Now, I don’t know if this site is paired up with any medical professional, but it’s a thought. So onto the question being answered after this person clears up that they don’t want the members of the site to answer and that it is about them.
PrettyThin is NOT a Pro-Anorexia website.
PrettyThin IS an anorexia website.
What’s the difference?
This site is not a place that advocates the lifestyle or encourages the disorder. That’s right; lifestyle and disorder. We don’t assume to know the answer, nor do we assume to care. People are here for different reasons. Some to help others. Some to make friends. Some to find acceptance. Some to find thinspiration. Everyone has their own reason, and PrettyThin thinks that’s the point.PrettyThin is here for you no matter why you’re here with it. PrettyThin allows you to be here, and give to it what you want, and take from it what you want.
I tried hard to overlook the tone, but seriously. Not a Pro-anorexia okay. I here ya! Why don’t you care about knowing the answer? Pinpointing that this EDs are lifestyles. EDs are NOT a lifestyle. EDs are exactly what ED stands for: eating disorders. Simple. My question is how can you choose to live a life harming yourself? If you have an answer for this please comment below. Also, why don’t you care to know an answer? See what I mean about a high schooler tone.
I am sorry but I just could not go further into the site. I do not believe that site is about beauty. It is a site about EDs.
I found a study on e-Ana and a-Mia. I have not looked into what these mean, but something tells me that it is a clever way of saying Anorexia and Bulimia. Just my guess. Okay so the study is published in the American Journal of Public Health.
This study’s objective was to prove that the internet has websites that describe, endorse, and support EDs. (Can I take a stab that Pretty Thin and Thinspiration Pictures are in fact those sites?) Well, the researchers of this study examined the different features of proED websites and those messages that these sites convey to their viewers.
Turns out they found 180 sites that contain thinspiration materials (Oh also writing a poem about weight loss is thinspiration too!), recovery stories, tips and tricks (what does this even mean! I am scared), and lastly perceived harm. This study holds accreditation, if you click on the American Journal of Public Health link you will find all necessary credits of who did this study along with more specifics.
So after completing the study the results were-
Practically all (91%) of the Web sites were open to the public, and most (79%) had interactive features. A large majority (84%) offered pro-anorexia content, and 64% provided pro-bulimia content. Few sites focused on eating disorders as a lifestyle choice. Thinspiration material appeared on 85% of the sites, and 83% provided overt suggestions on how to engage in eating-disordered behaviors. Thirty-eight percent of the sites included recovery-oriented information or links. Common themes were success, control, perfection, and solidarity.
Conclusions. Pro–eating disorder Web sites present graphic material to encourage, support, and motivate site users to continue their efforts with anorexia and bulimia. Continued monitoring will offer a valuable foundation to build a better understanding of the effects of these sites on their users.
Why are there more materials on thinspiration and suggestions on how to accomplish your ED tasks then recovery information?
Any comments?
I want to go back to our idea of Thinspiration. I seriously, cannot believe that this even exists, yet look at how many weight loss ads you see on TV and how many you see on the internet. There are probably studies about that too! Really. Sites like these talking about thinspiration is unbelievable, because it creates the thought that it’s okay to have EDs because other people have them. What a piece of shit! I respect that these sites want to embrace the thought of beauty or convey meaning that people who have these feelings need to be heard, but I feel and so does the study that I just presented to ya’ll that sites like these do not help but encourages the desire to be thin by having an ED.
I AM skinny. I do not have a Ed thank goodness. I value eating! I love being able to eat anything I want. Grant it, it will show when I am older, but the point is that I do not have an ED, but many people look at me and say that I need to eat more. WHAT?! Eat more? I can’t eat more. I am full. I am learning to ignore those people and those comments, but it hurts because they make me question by body. I look at bigger people than me (I think it covers everyone else in the world LOL) and I wish I could have their fat! Something to lose by exercising! If I was carrying a jelly roll (not edible) I would totally workout. NOT stick my finger in my throat and make myself throw up! That is something that is harmful and I hate vomiting, but yeah… teeth rotting because of the stomach acid. Gosh. How unpleasant. GROSS!
I still don’t understand how a person could go through all that just to be THIN. Being thin is nothing to desire because there are going to be people in this messed up world poking fun at you because you are too skinny! HEEEEEELLLLLLLOOOOOO! Is anyone home? Be comfortable with you are! Like I said I am learning along with you, but knock this attention seeking beauty lusting acts, because it is messing up your life and you are going to die, if you don’t stop!
Now for your featured presentation…
Anorexia is the 3rd most common chronic illness among adolescents. Find more here.
For more resources check this OUT.
