A Web of Deceit

This article shed some light on the huge problem that is Anorexia. Being someone who doesn’t personally suffer from the disease I don’t think of it often. I don’t constantly think about pushing myself to not eat or think about how I’m not skinny enough. I can’t even begin to imagine what it would feel like to constantly believe that I am not good enough. This article talked about a woman who was so unhappy with her body that she physically starved her body of food so that she could weigh 80 pounds at 17. It’s so unhealthy both physically and mentally to deny your body the one thing it needs to keep going. After it discussed Trudy Randalls story it introduced the topic of Anorexia support websites. Men and women are actually going to these websites to write and read encouraging letters from one anorexic to another saying “If you aren’t thin you aren’t attractive” and “You must buy clothes, cut your hair, take laxatives, starve yourself, do anything to make yourself look thinner. Thou shall not eat without feeling guilty.” Struggling through recovery, people like Randall find these websites absolutely crazy. She believes websites like this are wrong and could cause many deaths because she herself admits that if these websites had been around when she was at her lowest she probably would have taken the support and eventually let the disease take her. Scientists agree that the people on these websites are sick and they truly believe that they are simply living a way of life like one might decide to change religions. They either refuse to believe or listen to the scientific discoveries that lay out exactly how dangerous Anorexia is. It worries me to see things like this going on in the world especially with how much our social media is growing, these websites can double and be taken to whole new levels. I can only hope that children start being taught at young ages that they are not fat and never need to resort to starving themselves or throwing up to be our societies image of “perfect”. With luck we can show our next generation that skinny is not perfect but being fit is the most attractive way a body can be. 

- Mare 

The article first introduces a woman who was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa. She was anorexic for 25 years, until she finally overcame it at the age of 35. The article continues on to mention that this woman came across many sites that promoted anorexia. The first thing that popped into my head (after reading the third or fourth paragraph) was that I have personally seen similar things about “thinspiration.” Not the actual websites that the article is mentioning, but on popular social media networks like Instagram and random blogs on Tumblr. There are people (on Instagram) hash tagging their pictures with words such as #thin (576,125 photos) and #stayskinny (2,801 photos). So what exactly is thinspiration? It’s pretty much a way to encourage yourself, or others, to stay skinny. The people posting these types of messages don’t consider it wrong or out of the ordinary because to them, it’s considered a lifestyle.

                

There is nothing wrong with wanting to drop a few pounds, or even a size or two, but in a healthy way. Eating healthy and cutting sugar, constantly going to the gym, and drinking a lot of water is pretty much the key to it all. But the one thing to remember is that everyone is different, not all of us have fast metabolisms and each one of us has a different body build. 

- Alex

In today’s society, I feel that anorexia is a big problem. It is a topic that seems to be taboo because it is not openly discussed, but you’d be surprised to see how much information you can find on this topic online. Not only can you find thousands of articles shedding light on the horrors and consequences of this disease, but you are also able to find a multitude of blogs with user based comments and stories of their own personal experiences with anorexia.

I just recently came across a blog named “Skinny Confidential” which has multiple blog responses on how to stay thin, or cut calories. I was surprised to read one called “Do you Swallow?” This particular blog post teaches other girls/guys how to indulge in their chocolate fantasies without taking in all those empty calories. The rule of thumb is to chew all of your food until you have enjoyed it and absolutely under no circumstances do you actually SWALLOW the food. You simply just SPIT IT OUT! The blogger ends explaining that this practice is highly frowned upon and should be done at home when you’re alone.

I just want to end my response to this today with the scary thought that there must be hundreds if not thousands of young men and women who have come across this post online and have actually thought about doing this or have actually done it. Like the young girl that struggled with anorexia in the article presented in “The meaning of Dress” book, there will be more that will follow her same struggles and feel that this method is correct and satisfying to achieve the look they are going for.

Article mentioned: http://skinnyconfidential.wordpress.com/

- Valerie