Healthy=Great Butt...what?

I recently did a presentation in class about how the media influences eating disorders and body image.  It was probably one of the easiest projects I have done in grad school because picking out potential triggers and influences in the media in our western culture is extremely easy and accessible....

I went into the local grocery store and scanned the magazine rack for something that was a good example of western culture's ideal of how women are "supposed" to look. The magazine that caught my attention the most was Women's Health; ironic right? A magazine that is supposed to inform women about their health was going to be the perfect example of why western culture promotes a generally unrealistic yet idealized image of a woman.... anyways there is a lot to dissect so here is the cover i saw..

GREAT BUTT...WEIGH LESS..... this is what women's health should consist of?? hmm..

Lets first break this down by the messages this is sending to the general population of all ages as they are in the grocery aisle.

Toddlers: They might not be able to read, but they can see. Children at this age learn what is or what is not appropriate through modeling behaviors of others.  Those adults with children, I can assume that you have taken them to the grocery store with you and they have probably seen the magazines in the check out stand. What does the child see in this picture? A lady in her underwear and a small top smiling, she looks happy and seems to be enjoying herself.  Children may not understand that this might "just be for the magazine" or that its only ok to dress like this if your an adult.  All they see is a half naked woman on the cover of a magazine, looking happy to be there. What do you think this is telling your child? It could be sending numerous messages, but one that it could be sending is "this is what girls wear. i am wearing this and i am happy. this is what girls look like when they wear this".  Boys see this and girls see this. both are getting similar messages of how girls are supposed to look. This is how media can start to shape what is the "ideal women" even at such a young age.

Big Kids: These kids might not be able to read very well, but they know their words. As stated previously, the biggest words on the front cover are "Women's Health" and "Great Butt".  Health is being associated with having a great butt. Sounds ridiculous, right?.  Children are looking at this magazine and seeing something that is supposed to educate them on their health, however in this case health means to great butt and to weigh less.  Something else to point out is, what does weigh less mean? Weigh less than what? It doesn't say, all it says is to weigh less.  Thinness is valued greatly in western culture, so much that it doesn't seem to matter what size someone is, just that they have to be thinner to be ideal.  You would think a magazine that promotes health should read "Learn how to maintain a healthy weight" or "Find out your healthy BMI range"...but it doesn't, it just says that for Women's Health, they should just weigh less.  Once again, there can be a lot of different messages taken from this cover, but the potential that a kid can take this magazine and connect being healthy to having a great butt is the not the appropriate message to be sending. 

ADULTS: US! the ones who think that they might not be as influenced by the media as these children are, the ones who believe they are no susceptible to peer pressure or social pressure, yet we are the ones who are buying it because the title says "WEIGH LESS...GREAT BUTT...FLAT BELLY IN LESS THAN 15 MINUTEs". Magazines pay lots of money to find out what consumers are attracted to and what makes them more inclined to purchase their magazine, so having those titles on the front cover is not by chance, its by what is known to sell.  and we purchase these magazines because we have been taught over the years that to be thin is ideal, that we must "weigh less" than we do to feel better, that flat abs are going to get us a better life or a cuter boyfriend and that "mind blowing morning sex" should be accompanied by a "great butt". It's a little crazy if you think about it.

but is this what we truly believe? it can have some truth to how we feel, this is what keeps plastic surgeons in business, tucking, sucking, and lifting; it is a multi million dollar practice.  People want to look better than they do, because they heard someone say they need a straighter nose, they need bigger boobs, and they need a smaller waist in order to feel better about themselves.  Don't get me wrong, working out and eating well changes the shape of our bodies and makes us stronger and we might enjoy the way we look now opposed to how we looked before we started going to crossfit or hot yoga or whatever you do to keep in shape, but making sure your happiness with yourself is not contingent on how many classes you do or don't attend is important It is important because the image of our bodies should not shave such a strong influence about how we view ourselves.  We are smart, we are courageous, we are independent, we are brave, we are creative, we are loving, we are loveable, we are so many more important things than the message our body image sends.  Stay mindful of the messages that are out there, but more importantly be mindful of how those messages might affect you. They are so many people unhappy with their appearance due to these messages that have been sent to us our entire lives, so how can we overcome something that is almost engrained into our minds? I don't have the answer to that, but I can say what helps is acceptance. Accepting yourself for who you are right now, not last year, not after you do a 30 day bootcamp, but right now in the present.

 On a personal note, there was a time that I did not feel happy with how i looked, to the point that I was ridiculous enough to make a list of plastic surgeries I could have done (this was after that horrible show The Swan--if you don't know if google it). Basically I wanted to look "ideal", what society had said was "ideal". as i got older, through many different life experiences, it clicked for me.  I learned to love how i looked, regardless if i was 20 pounds heavier than i was in high school, or if my boobs weren't as big as my best friends, or if i didn't fit into a sample size as a model casting. I didnt let that determine how I felt about myself.  I have learned to just truly love how i look, and have seen how much happier I am because how much i DONT stress about it. 

so stop standing in front of the mirror, analyzing and critiquing all the things you don't like about yourself. stop changing your outfit 50 times before you leave the house because you don't feel it "looks ok". you look great. I stumbled upon a quote this week that is a good closing to this entry...

"Over the years I have learned that what is important in a dress is the woman who is wearing it."

— Yves Saint-Laurent

That's all for now. I hope you enjoyed reading this topic, one of my favorites so far. youre all so beautiful :) and thank you for reading!

#anorexia #bulimia #instagramproblems

First let me share my excitement with everyone. I officially have an interview with Monte Nido NYC. for those of you who are not familiar with it, it is one of the most prestigious Eating Disorder Treatment Facilities in the nation. It has been my long term goal to become apart of Monte Nido so I am beyond crazy excited that I even have an interview with them.  They just opened Monte Nido NYC this month, so it will be great to be apart of a brand new branch. So please, send lots of positive vibes my way!

As you can see from the title, this post has to deal with my recent realization how instagram unknowingly allows hundreds and thousands of individuals to expose their eating disorder and even get supporters on their quest for thinness. Individuals are posting pictures of their emaciated bodies, asking for support and motivation to starve themselves, and helping to cheer them on when they skip dinner. It is really sad.

This was not the only picture of its kind.  People would post "one like=one day of not eating". It made me so angry and sad to see so many likes on someones picture and the comments cheering them on. As discussed in my previous posts, Thinspiration is a big part of the pro-ana world (pro anorexia).  People will use images of emaciated bodies as motivation to get thinner.  What Instagram does now is create an entire library of #thinspiration photos that eating disordered individuals are using as "goals". A main concern with so much #thinspiration available, is that it may also create not only unhealthy goals, but create competition between individuals, trying to be the thinnest, or trading ideas on how they got to a certain weight. This is dangerous because the wealth of information that is out there is not just how to recover, but how to maintain the eating disorder, which makes it a lot easier for an individual new to their disease to learn a lot of negative information very quickly. too quickly. 

#anorexia is another support group (both good and bad) that creates a community for those suffering with it.  a mixture of cries for help, pictures liek the one shown above, and quotes saying "nothing taste as good as thin feels". A lot of negative self-talk is most apparent. Its scary that there are so many people out there who are PRO-ANA (pro-anorexia), and they are able to group together to help support each other maintain their eating disorder instead of trying to overcome it. This type of behavior just reinforces their harmful behavior.  Especially since Instagram is not really monitored and parents and family might have a hard time accessing a loved ones IG page, there is no one to tell these Pro-Ana supporters to stop. It is also hard to tell if these Pro-ANA people are also suffering or if this is just another form of bullying; others taking advantage of someones vulnerable state and using it to take control and tell someone else not to eat or tell them that starving themselves is the right thing to do.  I think i spent about an hour just looking through different hashtags of all these pictures and it is hard not to feel heartbroken for these beautiful individuals.  As much as the internet has provided so many resources for eating disorder recovery and recovery groups, negative support is almost as prevalent.  Thank goodness there is a report button, and I think I spent half an hour just reporting...

I thought it was GREAT that instagram has this option. Not because I think reporting the picture will cause a great deal of change, but that might create one less "PRO-ANA" picture for those suffering from an eating disorder. Its sad how engulfed these individuals are by their eating disorder. Another great thing that Instagram has done is to put a warning notice anytime someone tries to search #bulimia #anorexia #eating disorders, etc

This made me so happy to know that there are others out there working towards the cause! The internet and social media is a great way to connect, but we never think people are connecting for these types of reasons.  #Suicide was really depressing as well, and you would think people would be using this to help them out of suicidal ideations, but there are people out there telling them to do follow thru with their suicide. I think in the future of social media, there needs to be more being done about bullying, abusive/offensive statements, and harassment on these sites. A task force or an entire department should be devoted to the cause.  Maybe that could be a prospective venture for me in the future, who knows. lol

What I want everyone to take away from this post, is to be aware of what is out there.  BE aware of what is going on in the world, and as for parents to realize what is out there.  Especially now teenagers have a lot more privacy when it comes to social networking, they can see a lot of things due to the internet and smart phones that was not accessible 10 years ago. This is one of them.  Especially if you have a teen with ED, monitoring all of this is important to make sure they are getting the RIGHT type of support, and not learning tricks of how to hide their eating disorder, or having people support their purging habits.  

to all those who are fighting through their eating disorder, keep fighting, you are strong enough, i believe in you. 

 Pro-Living > Pro-ANA 

Back on track!

I am back. Ive been wanting to be back for a long time now but school, work, internship, and my recent aspirations of modeling have taken up any and all time I have left. It has been over a year since I last wrote so I guess I should catch everyone up on my life. Last year I started my Master’s in Clinical Psychology with an Emphasis on Marriage and Family Therapy. My road to being a therapist, working with the eating disorder population, has started! I have had an amazing time so far at Pepperdine University, and I am learning so much, that I am already starting to feel like a real person! I have also started an internship as a “practicing therapist” at a substance abuse center in Compton, CA. It has been a very interesting experience and it feels so amazing being able to practice what I have been learning in school to help better other people’s lives. Its amazing. The reason I did not choose to get an internship at an ED (eating disorders) unit was because I had previous experience at Princeton University Medical Hospital working in the eating disorders unit (which was the most amazing experience), so I wanted to broaden my scope a bit and learn about a different population. I also currently work at Jenny Craig. When I first started working there about a year ago, I didn’t realize how good of a fit it would be for me, but over time I realized that disordered eating has a huge range of how it can affect a person. Overeating and Undereating both are huge issues in today’s society. What they both have in common is that as a “therapist” or “weight loss consultant”, you are trying to help your client obtain a new relationship with food and their body. Both have a hard time with overcoming the control food has had in their lives, and at Jenny Craig I get to help people to establish a new lifestyle towards food and themselves.
 My newest life venture, which is also the primary topic of this post is my new interest in Modeling. I am well aware the stigma of the modeling world and how that effects the media, publications, fashion, etc; and how that has affected society as a whole, especially the female population. Fashion and modeling place a great deal of emphasis towards thin women, and since that is the preference, we see it everywhere. My journey with the modeling world started last year when I auditioned for America’s Next Top Model. This is also where my idea of what type of model I wanted to be had started. During auditions I had met an awesome beautiful girl, who was tall like me, but was not the “stereotypical model”. She was lean, toned, healthy looking, and had curves to her, which most models on the catwalk are missing. As I looked around the group of females I was with, everyone was different shapes and sizes, and it was great to see we had all been in the later rounds of the competition. The girl I had described ended up finishing in the TOP 2! of that season on America’s Next Top Model, and for me that’s when it really dawned on me that the modeling world is starting to change. She did not have to fit the “mold” of a 5’10, 100lbs model, but she still succeeded. A lot of pressure and years of casting those type of models have limited to the runways to size 0s. It seems that the break of 2-4-6-8s are now making their way.
 I have done a lot of thinking about my modeling and how it would affect my career as a therapist working with people with eating disorders, knowing that the industry I am involving myself in has been used as “thinspiration” for thousands of girls who find themselves bent over the toilet because they are trying to strive for thinness. I have thought a lot about it, and realized that the model I want to become is to become a model that should be a inspiration, not a thinspiration. I want to be the model that eats healthy, not depriving herself to fit into a sample size. There is such an obsession with thinness in model world, and I want to enjoy this experience, not suffer through it. I also want to use my modeling to advocate more for ED and positive body image. Basically I want to use this opportunity to be not just a model, but a ROLE model. I know in that, I will succeed. ☺ I will try to update this blog more often with information about ED or just cool articles I think pertain. If you come across any articles feel free to share so I can post it as well. I am so excited to get restarted on this journey! Glad you can join me!