Thinspiration

Warning: This post could be triggering for individuals with ED. I would suggest not reading it if there is a chance you could be sensitive to the material.

Thinspiration: : inspirational material that promotes thinness. See pro-ana
Pro-Ana: anything that involved the promotion of anoretic behaviors.
Example "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels"

The term “Thinspiration” is not at all to be confused with what could seem like a positive motivating phrase. “Thinspiration” does represent inspirational material to promote thinness, but is used in the eating disordered world as a way to individuals to gain courage, support, and inspiration for maintaining their eating disorder. Try googling “Thinspiration” and you will see exactly what I am referring to. If you go to images, what you will see images of emaciated bodies filling up the screen. There are also Thinspiration websites, full of Pro-Ana proverbs, trying to tell girls that their suffering is worth it and to continue with their eating disorders. This is the sickening world of eating disorders.
The first time I had seen a thinspiration video or even heard about it was last year after reading a book called “Purge” by Nicole Johns. I was curious to see what this motivation for ED entailed. I was sickened by the amount of videos that were available under the title of “Thinspiration”. I literally became sick to my stomach. There are people out there, very sick people, who are creating a photo montague of extremely unhealthy and unidealistic bodies. They use this as motivation for their eating disorder. They use celebrities such as Nicole Ritchie or Victoria Secret models, and use them as motivators of how they BELIEVE their bodies HAVE to look like. They also use self portraits. Anorexic looking bodies are bring used as a model of what they believe they should look like. These emaciated body parts are in NO WAY ideal of how one should look, or how one should strive for.
I have shown these videos to a few of my friends, and they are shocked that this is even real. Who would ever think to promote an eating disorder? What is worse, is that youtube videos arent' even half of the "Thinspiration" material available. There are Pro-Ana websites. Which stands for PRO ANOREXIC. I still can’t believe these websites are allowed on the internet. These websites believe they are a place where individuals with ED can go and feel support. A place where everyone feels the same way they do, and they can go there for words of encouragement to stop eating, and that the hunger is worth the pain. Its basically the same thing as promoting suicide. Eating disorders are a slow sucide. Slowly killing your body from within by starving and/or purging.
I found a video that is a good example of the sickening things that are out there
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqHxlz1kcq8

I have taken the liberty to flag any video on youtube that I find as offensive as this one. Once again, these videos are FUELING eating disorders and should be removed from the internet.
What I want people to take away from this entry is I hope they are shocked and upset from what they have just read about/seen. I hope this entry has let people glimpse into the mind of a person with ED. That there are people out there who are so sick that these phrases, pictures, etc are something they firmly believe it. They believe that if they are fat they are unloveable, or if they aren't skinny enough they arent good enough. I have heard girls say that they are no one without their eating disorder. And none of that is true. Which is why Thinspiration material makes me so upset and scared for the girls that aren't strong enough not to listen to them. I hope that we all can take a stand against "Thinspiration" videos in one way or another. Flag a video on facebook, or write an encouraging comment on a Thinspiration website. Something. Let people out there know that their lives are worth living no matter how big or small they are.

"I finally realized that being grateful to my body was key to giving more love to myself"-Oprah