Ashley Phillips
“Type the terms “#thinspiration,” “#thinspo” or “#ana” into various social media networks, and a disturbing underground world comes into focus. Images of emaciated legs and protruding ribs are flanked by words like “starving for perfection” and drastic tips to drop weight. Combined, they reveal a troubling movement that advocates eating disorders”(Fighting social media). Although many people believe it is only normal behavior for teenagers to become a little insecure about their physical appearance and weight through their teenage years, research shows that for many it is becoming more than normal. It is an obsession or newly found epidemic called “Thinspiration.
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Now some people may be wondering what Thinspiration is and why it is so important. Thinspiration is a “term that refers to inspire weight loss. Usually the person who is trying to lose weight will use pictures of someone who is the desired size as a reminder of his or her goal.”(Yandoli). Most people who believe in Thinspiration are not fixated on the idea of being healthy, just the idea of being thin. Thin does not necessarily mean healthy.This is proven by people who become sick or caught up in eating disorders. “Forty-seven percent of girls in 5th-12th grade reported wanting to lose weight because of magazine pictures or ads. Sixty-nine percent of girls in 5th-12th grade reported that magazine pictures influenced their idea of a perfect body shape” (ANAD).
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This fact is important to understand because it shows the effect that that social media and just media in general has on these girls. I believe this sets them up for failure because instead of believing they’re beautiful they feel the need to constantly compare and tweak what they view as their flaws. The Internet has become a common source of Thinspiration imagery, especially on weight loss websites and those that promote eating disorders like Anorexia, Bulimia etc.The problem with all these images coming about is that women then tend to look down on themselves because they feel as though they are not good enough or not up to the unrealistic expectations that our society has created with these images and expectations on what a woman should be.
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Most people, including teenage girls, look up to their favorite celebrities as a source to show what their body should look like instead of focusing on medical facts about healthy weight. This is a problem because everyone’s body is in fact different and the perfect weight for someone else may not fit or be healthy for you. “Weight is based off height, age, body type and gender stated by” (Ideal Weight). So two people may be the same weight but one looks bigger than the other based on these things, that does not make a person fat. The ideal body weight as well as a healthy body weight range based on height, gender, and age. A person who believes in or follows Thinspiration may feel fat when that is not true at all.
The pressure society puts on celebrities and models to be thin sells. These companies are only interested in the business side of things. These companies are not concerned with the effects of their shenanigans. Every magazine cover that is put on display is photo shopped often beyond recognition. If one is not informed of this they begin to look up to and aspire to be like or as good as the photo shopped model or celebrity on the cover.
Using Thinspiration might be able to get you down to the desired weight of choice but it will not happen the healthy way that it should happen and the results will eventually disappear because your “healthy lifestyle” will change after the results you want are temporally present. Those results will only make you feel better and or more confident for the time being, trying to change yourself in this unhealthy way won't only damage you physically but mentally as well. You should love and accept yourself and than tweak yourself if wanted. As my father tells me as long as you exercise and stay on a balanced diet you'll be the weight you're suppose to be.
It is alright if losing weight is something that people want to do, as long as it is done for the right reasons and it is in the right mindset everything will be alright. Do you guys agree with this? What are your thoughts on thinspiration? I believe women overall should start to become more confident because we are all beautiful at the end of the day. Physical appearance is only a small part of a what is considered a “beautiful person”. A beautiful mind, heart and soul are what counts.
Good post! This was my term paper topic for sophomore year and it was definitely an eye opener. For years, women have been competing with each other to look the thinnest and so forth. I am not going to lie, I have used the hashtag #thinspo whenever I come across a picture I would like to be. It is hard to say to someone that they cannot aspire to be thin but when you notice that they are about to hit rock bottom, please say something. They may not like what you say but it is better to say something to help them than to not say something and for them to face serious health conditions or death.
ReplyDeleteThis was really an extremely great post!! My opinion on how people look up towards the "thinspiration goal" is that is that its really sad. I feel that most people who look at this as a goal are concerned on how people perceive them as. I feel as though most people are wasting their time being something they are not. Most people pay too much attention to how they must look like and to fit the"norm". But really has any actually found out what is this so called "norm" in society. Many people look towards this "Thinspiration" as an outlet to escape their actual problems, which isn't good. It is important to keep the concept in our mind that we must always love ourselves and do what is right for our health.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post! Too often not only girls but boys as well become obsessed with their appearance and the desire to be what society defines as perfect. This obsession is so apparent because we as a society are constantly plugged in to other people's lives, as a result of social media. For these girls who participate in thinspiration social media has become a journaling tool for them and others. Here they can share their tips and ideas on how to loose weight. This can also be seen in different ways throughout social media with people who do not participate in thinspo, with hashtags such as #bodygoals and #wcw. We see girls still striving to be perfect, not being content with the skin they are in and wanting more. I especially think that this was a good blog to write for this time of year. Not only is it getting warm outside meaning that men and women are beginning to worry about their appearance and worrying about achieving a "bikini body" , but it is also prom season. Because I am a senior I may have seen this more than you have but I have observed girls taking drastic measures in order to achieve the perfect "prom body", girls sharing diets, searching the internet for ways to slim down fast, and girls going to the gym constantly in a rush to fir into their dresses perfectly. Well I would like to take this time to say that if you want a bikini body put a bikini on your body and if you want a prom body put your dream dress on your body and wear it with pride! You are beautiful no matter what and you need to learn this.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post! Too often not only girls but boys as well become obsessed with their appearance and the desire to be what society defines as perfect. This obsession is so apparent because we as a society are constantly plugged in to other people's lives, as a result of social media. For these girls who participate in thinspiration social media has become a journaling tool for them and others. Here they can share their tips and ideas on how to loose weight. This can also be seen in different ways throughout social media with people who do not participate in thinspo, with hashtags such as #bodygoals and #wcw. We see girls still striving to be perfect, not being content with the skin they are in and wanting more. I especially think that this was a good blog to write for this time of year. Not only is it getting warm outside meaning that men and women are beginning to worry about their appearance and worrying about achieving a "bikini body" , but it is also prom season. Because I am a senior I may have seen this more than you have but I have observed girls taking drastic measures in order to achieve the perfect "prom body", girls sharing diets, searching the internet for ways to slim down fast, and girls going to the gym constantly in a rush to fir into their dresses perfectly. Well I would like to take this time to say that if you want a bikini body put a bikini on your body and if you want a prom body put your dream dress on your body and wear it with pride! You are beautiful no matter what and you need to learn this.
ReplyDeleteYour post got me fired up. I feel like our society does not allow room for change. When we see extremely thin girls, we say "Eww, she has an eating disorder" or "She looks so unhealthy." Thicker girls are also told to lose weight because they look unhealthy. Even when a girl has a flat stomach, we say things like "Her stomach is flat but she needs to work on those 'love handles.'" At what point does a woman or man fit into the mold or standard that we have set? What happened to a person being confident? I remember in the earlier in the year when Faith told me in homeroom that one thing she admired about me was my confidence. I have never beat myself up about my weight or body features because what good do slim features do for me if there are only insecurities beneath? I also find it interesting how men are never usually the ones to pay attention to whether or not a girl is slim. Girls tear each other apart from head to toe because they see flaws they believe men will not like.
ReplyDeleteNo one is perfect. I state this because I see that in our society we have lost sight to see the value of every human being of all shapes and sizes. This society is so focused on beauty and "perfection" that people have not realizes no matter how much surgery a person gets that they will never be satisfied with themselves because they have not learned to love themselves. And judgement people who target others for not fitting their standard of beauty and who actually have bigger insecurities than the person they are talking about, do not make it easy. A skinny girl may be judge by people who will call her anorexic. God made our bodies this way for a reason. Our imperfect shapes and sizes are our perfection. Altering our bodies to fit in with the crowd will not help us feel better. It will make it worst because we will be trying to alter every imperfection on our bodies and probably end up destroying ourselves. We as a society need to stop these judgments and being to accept everyone the way they are.
ReplyDeleteThis idea of Thinspiration reminds me of a book that I read titled "Winter Girls". This novel focuses on Lia and Cassie, two best friends competing to see who would be skinner than the other. In the process, Cassie ends up dying, but Lia continues with the bet of being extremely thin. Lia basically stops eating until she was close to death; all in the name of being skinny. This shows how dangerous the media influence of the idea of being skinny can be especially for teenagers. Most at times people deprive themselves of food to a point where they start hurting themselves all the name of being skinny. I think that people should start to realize that God made us all differently for a reason and gave us different body styles, talent and personalities therefore, we should not succumb to the societal expectation or allow social media to control us because no one is perfect and no one has it all.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of the term "Thinspiration" but this is a common issue for many girls in the U.S. I find it funny that people that are naturally skinny want to be thicker and the thicker ones want to be thinner. I wouldn't say that i'm a thick girl that wants to be skinny but i would like to lose some weight and have a flatter stomach. I feel bad for the people that see being skin and bones cute and or healthy because its not. I always say " Food is your best friend =) " but you shouldn't use food as a escape from your problems. I believe everyone is unique and beautiful the way they are and they shouldn't want to lose weight unless its for health reasons.
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