David Baxter PhD
Late Founder
There?s a new word in the dictionary: the advent of ?thinspo? and its menacing grip on young girls? self worth
by Kate Daigle, Kate Daigle Counseling Blog
Feb 16, 2012
There?s a new word in the {Tumblr} dictionary: thinspo (n.): short for ?thin-spirational?, photos of wafer-thin girls, pro-anorexia quotes. The culture devoted to thinspo is primarily found on Tumblr but also is awash in blogs and sites all over the internet. Those who are active in it use acronyms across the top of their webpages, like a banner to describe their work: CW (current weight), SW (starting weight), UGW (ultimate goal weight). Carolyn Gregoire of the Huffington Post recently wrote an article THE HUNGER BLOGS: A Secret World of Teenage ?Thinspiration? wherein she uncovers ?this codependent sisterhood of bloggers uses Tumblr for one sole purpose: to lose extreme and unhealthy amounts of weight.?
Throughout my work with eating disorders and during my own struggle, I have encountered ?pro-ana? (pro-anorexia) and ?pro-mia? (pro-bulimia) sites which give ?advice? and ?tips? on how to have the best eating disorder possible. These sites are incredibly toxic for the influence they can have on young girls and boys who may not know anything about eating disorders before coming upon them.
Harriet Brown, author of Brave Girl Eating: A Family?s Struggle with Anorexia wrote a blog post piggy-backing onto Ms. Gregoire?s post, during which she acknowledges that ?thinspo? and other pro-ED sites are technically allowed because of the First Amendment?s liberty of self-expression, but ?thinspo is not self-expression because it?s not these young women?s true selves that invite emaciation and worship at the altar of jutting hipbones. The longing for extreme thinness, for the self-annhilation of starvation, is not rational. It?s not a choice. It?s the expression of an underlying terror and compulsion that controls a person?s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.? In other words, the eating disorder is writing the words for these young women.
Ms. Brown?s post, entitled A Mother?s Plea to Shut the Hunger Blogs, is written from the heart ? from someone who knows what it?s like to have a daughter affected by the messages from these sites. She writes: ?If my older daughter had never developed anorexia, I might be more sympathetic to the notion that thinspo is a genuine form of self-expression.? One of the dangers of thinspo is that the words and intent can come from a vulnerable place of wanting to express something. Eating disorders develop for some kind of reason, they help to cope with something, and behind the dangerous messages of thinspo lie millions of hurt, scared, and sick young women who underneath it all just want to be loved for who they are. They just don?t know how to express that and are afraid to be rejected.
This may be why Ms. Brown says that she has empathy for these young women ?even as their words nauseate me?: the real issue isn?t the development of these sites but the underlying cultural acceptance of the drive to be thin. And to do almost ANYTHING to get there ? thinness is more valued in our culture than intelligence, curiosity, creativity or JOY. Now that is pretty twisted.
Yahoo says it has dismantled over one hundred thinspo sites due to ?violation of the site?s terms of use?; this is a start, but the sites will keep on coming. We can take all of the sites off the internet, and this will be a great step in the direction of decreasing ?pro-ED? education. However, the real issue is the way that thinness, fitness (yes, there?s another new word: ?fit-spo?, short for ?fit-spirational?, showing photos of fit girls and inspirational fitness quotes), and competitive drive are placed in the spotlight as qualities that lead to happiness and success. Yes, they may lead to a healthy lifestyle, but if these messages are heard by ears that are consumed by our culture and are already pre-disposed to eating disordered behaviors, they can lead to a full-blown eating disorder that takes their lives away from them.
As Ms. Brown cites: ?In part because of our cultural obsession with thinness, we have trouble seeing anorexia and other eating disorders as illnesses. As real illnesses, the kind you can?t snap yourself out of. And that?s the main reason I would shut down every thinspo blog and Tumblr if I could: Because the girls and young women who so eagerly perpetuate them are ill. They?re not stupid or vain or misguided; they are profoundly, mortally sick.?
We are making ourselves sick. We consume and purchase, trying to fit the standard that must be the way to find a lifetime of happiness. The truth is that we will never find what we are looking for in that way; the only way we will find what we yearn for is to look within ourselves, listen to our voice, and take the steps to follow our own unique, authentic path back to ourselves.
On the advent on Eating Disorders Awareness Week, let?s hear your voice!
by Kate Daigle, Kate Daigle Counseling Blog
Feb 16, 2012
There?s a new word in the {Tumblr} dictionary: thinspo (n.): short for ?thin-spirational?, photos of wafer-thin girls, pro-anorexia quotes. The culture devoted to thinspo is primarily found on Tumblr but also is awash in blogs and sites all over the internet. Those who are active in it use acronyms across the top of their webpages, like a banner to describe their work: CW (current weight), SW (starting weight), UGW (ultimate goal weight). Carolyn Gregoire of the Huffington Post recently wrote an article THE HUNGER BLOGS: A Secret World of Teenage ?Thinspiration? wherein she uncovers ?this codependent sisterhood of bloggers uses Tumblr for one sole purpose: to lose extreme and unhealthy amounts of weight.?
Throughout my work with eating disorders and during my own struggle, I have encountered ?pro-ana? (pro-anorexia) and ?pro-mia? (pro-bulimia) sites which give ?advice? and ?tips? on how to have the best eating disorder possible. These sites are incredibly toxic for the influence they can have on young girls and boys who may not know anything about eating disorders before coming upon them.
Harriet Brown, author of Brave Girl Eating: A Family?s Struggle with Anorexia wrote a blog post piggy-backing onto Ms. Gregoire?s post, during which she acknowledges that ?thinspo? and other pro-ED sites are technically allowed because of the First Amendment?s liberty of self-expression, but ?thinspo is not self-expression because it?s not these young women?s true selves that invite emaciation and worship at the altar of jutting hipbones. The longing for extreme thinness, for the self-annhilation of starvation, is not rational. It?s not a choice. It?s the expression of an underlying terror and compulsion that controls a person?s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.? In other words, the eating disorder is writing the words for these young women.
Ms. Brown?s post, entitled A Mother?s Plea to Shut the Hunger Blogs, is written from the heart ? from someone who knows what it?s like to have a daughter affected by the messages from these sites. She writes: ?If my older daughter had never developed anorexia, I might be more sympathetic to the notion that thinspo is a genuine form of self-expression.? One of the dangers of thinspo is that the words and intent can come from a vulnerable place of wanting to express something. Eating disorders develop for some kind of reason, they help to cope with something, and behind the dangerous messages of thinspo lie millions of hurt, scared, and sick young women who underneath it all just want to be loved for who they are. They just don?t know how to express that and are afraid to be rejected.
This may be why Ms. Brown says that she has empathy for these young women ?even as their words nauseate me?: the real issue isn?t the development of these sites but the underlying cultural acceptance of the drive to be thin. And to do almost ANYTHING to get there ? thinness is more valued in our culture than intelligence, curiosity, creativity or JOY. Now that is pretty twisted.
Yahoo says it has dismantled over one hundred thinspo sites due to ?violation of the site?s terms of use?; this is a start, but the sites will keep on coming. We can take all of the sites off the internet, and this will be a great step in the direction of decreasing ?pro-ED? education. However, the real issue is the way that thinness, fitness (yes, there?s another new word: ?fit-spo?, short for ?fit-spirational?, showing photos of fit girls and inspirational fitness quotes), and competitive drive are placed in the spotlight as qualities that lead to happiness and success. Yes, they may lead to a healthy lifestyle, but if these messages are heard by ears that are consumed by our culture and are already pre-disposed to eating disordered behaviors, they can lead to a full-blown eating disorder that takes their lives away from them.
As Ms. Brown cites: ?In part because of our cultural obsession with thinness, we have trouble seeing anorexia and other eating disorders as illnesses. As real illnesses, the kind you can?t snap yourself out of. And that?s the main reason I would shut down every thinspo blog and Tumblr if I could: Because the girls and young women who so eagerly perpetuate them are ill. They?re not stupid or vain or misguided; they are profoundly, mortally sick.?
We are making ourselves sick. We consume and purchase, trying to fit the standard that must be the way to find a lifetime of happiness. The truth is that we will never find what we are looking for in that way; the only way we will find what we yearn for is to look within ourselves, listen to our voice, and take the steps to follow our own unique, authentic path back to ourselves.
On the advent on Eating Disorders Awareness Week, let?s hear your voice!