“Thinspiration” an abomination
Anorexia, a disease common amongst young women from ages 12 to 25, is unfortunately a term familiar to most young women in America.
Anorexia is an eating disorder in which a person will have an irrational fear of gaining weight, a distorted body perception, and unhealthy eating habits.
Recently, a blog promoting anorexia on the website Tumblr, called “Thinspiration,” has created ongoing tags such as “skinny,” and “thin” that people can use to identify and promote anorexia.
A majority of the blogs are from young women explaining how much they hate their bodies, how they will never be good enough until their thighs don’t touch, how much they want their ribs to protrude and so on. Most consist of pictures of girls whose bodies are unnaturally skinny and undernourished.
“I’m not hungry for food,” reads one of the blogs. “I’m hungry for how good skinny girls look in a bikini. I’m hungry for feeling tiny underneath a small sweatshirt. I’m hungry for bony collars and shoulders. I’m hungry for that light-as-a-feather feeling when I’m being picked up. I’m hungry for skinny legs, thigh gaps and a flat stomach. I’m not hungry for food anymore, because nothing can ever taste as good as I will feel when I am thin.”
One CVHS student, who wishes to remain anonymous, was anorexic in middle school and high school. Luckily, she has fully recovered and is currently living a healthy lifestyle.
“I was once there,” she relayed. “Feeling that the only way I could be beautiful was if I was a size 0’0. I starved myself for days. At one point I couldn’t even go anywhere because food repulsed me. I knew that it was unhealthy. But when you are that low and feel so worthless you will do anything to feel something. We should create more awareness on the blog and what it stands for. Young girls are insecure and need guidance. This is not the right path to lead them down.”
Other girls felt the same, stating that “Thinspiration” is a parasite in society, bringing girls down when they should feel confident.
“Reading this and remembering my own experience makes me only think that promoting a healthy lifestyle should be the main focus of people, not promoting starvation, and malnutrition,” exclaimed another girl. “There should be more education on this disorder and the social media should start promoting healthy lifestyle choices.”
“Thinspiration” and other similar websites have sparked anger amongst the general public. Anorexia is a disease and should be treated like one. If websites continue to allow promotion for anorexia, more young girls will be led down a path of destruction that will only cause them pain. Just like other diseases that affect humans, we all need to stop them by coming together and taking steps to aid those who struggle with anorexia.