Mean girls, Gossip girl, social media and eating disorders?

Isolation becomes solitude.

So, if you have suffered from an eating disorder, you're most likely to agree with me when is mention that isolation is actually quite a wonderful thing
Not having to feel like someone is looking at your food or judging you
Not having to worry if someone notices how little you eat
Not having to worry if someone can hear you purge, or if they saw you binge
Oh yes its so lovely to make those around you  walk on eggshells because you're mood is unpredictable, and for them to be terrified of your eating every day because they know it's not right.
They know, despite how hard you try to hide it. People know.

Anyway, now you know that people know, it's time to reach out to them because they will happily accept your plea with open arms and loving warm heart. If you're underweight, trust me, that warmth is nice when you're cold all summer.

Okay so now for todays post!
The media, celebrities, thinspo and eating disorders.

http://wifflegif.com/tags/129977-is-butter-a-carb-gifs 

Oh one of my great movie loves - Mean Girls. 

The ultimate portrayal of girl world, where to ruin someones life is to make them put on weight

I actually don't mind the portrayal of body image in this movie, I think the intention was not at all to promote thin, or perfect. It's a comedy and I like to believe it's as simple as that.

However... 

I've heard before how mean girls is not good for young girls, I can't disagree since i ended up with an eating disorder so technically i can't say 'i watched it as a young girl and turned out fine' but i strongly doubt that my eating issues stemmed from or where even heavily influenced by movies like mean girls. They actually show that girls self-criticise excessively, and that it shouldn't be such a big deal "I used to think there was just fat and skinny".

A show which receives quite a lot of debate about it's image of young girls is Gossip Girl, thin rich girls living lives full of lust, money and drama... oh don't try to deny it, if you're a girl you've watched it and probably love it just like the rest of us (if not, then i am sorry and i accept that i am not always right) 

The beautiful Blair 

suffers from bulimia early in the seasons, and what happens? 

Her loved ones reach out to her, she receives help, gets better and you never hear of it again!

People like to state 'oh come on, she didn't relapse! that's not a real portrayal of an eating disorder recovery' 

well actually, it is. 

Eating disorder's come in all shapes and forms and behaviours, just like recovery. May i remind you that in that episode, Blair was relapsing! So her recovery wasn't her first attempt, but it worked, she didn't binge or purge again that we know of and it showed that there is no shame or glamour in an eating disorder.

So how much is the media to blame for the body issues of female? Is it the media, or simply our culture.

If you study psychology, you will understand that there are multiple schools of thought and that there are both biological and cultural boundaries to the study of psychology. 

Is it our culture? What is it that shapes our culture? 

Are quotes such as "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels" (Kate Moss) (which may have been taken out of context) and the portrayal of thin girls in the media what shapes our unrealistic goals.

Personally I believe what has a huge impact on body image is thinspo

Ah yes.

Good ol' tumblr and pinterest with their endless supply of thin, underweight, probably depressed and malnourished bodies to make 'thinspiration'

I actually can't stand it! I LOVE tumblr, have been using it on and off for about 4 years now, it's honestly got so much amazing potential if used correctly

using it to search or advertise pro-ana, pro-mia (promoting anorexia or bulimia) is not okay.

BREAK THE CYCLE.

And stop scrolling through pages and pages and pages of food blogs instead of actually eating! Did you know that actually getting up off your starving ass to the fridge and getting some fruit/rice/tahini/hot chocolate will make the obsession with food go away?

Food is a biological necessity, stop feeling guilty for it because you think there is something beautiful about saying no and practicing your 'will power' when it comes to eating. There is no such thing as will power when it comes to nutrition and food, we need it, we eat it. Eat intuitively and if that means you eat less than that girl over there but 2x more than that boy there, then so be it. We all eat different amounts, and it's okay as long as we are not UNDERFEEDING ourselves and eating for our needs. You can not train your body to need a certain amount of energy!

Photo's like this the one above make me really quite angry. 

Saying 'no thank you' to food is weak! 

Listening to your eating disorder is weak... fighting it is strong.

Be strong and STOP looking at thinspo on pinterest or tumblr, because although i don't think the media is particularly to blame directly, i would be much more inclined to put a fair chunk of blame onto the individuals who make these images. If you make these images, don't. If you make them for yourself, don't share them at least. For god's sake promoting fatal and life consuming mental disorders is not cool.

Okay ran off into a little rant there

where was I... oh yes. The media.

It's a touchy subject, with a lot of controversy, personally i know a lot of people who are suffering and have suffered an eating disorder will say it has nothing to do with the media, but there is obviously some connection there no matter how small with looking at ourselves in the mirror after watching a movie full of skinny popular girls when we are 12, and not liking our puberty stricken bodies.

I do believe though that eating disorders are caused by a deeper issue, whether it be from the age of 2, 4, 7, 12 or 24. There are always underlying psychological and emotional issues to an eating disorder

With behaviours arising from issues with control in one's life, perfectionism, depression, suicidal thoughts, sexual abuse etc. 

So the media isn't to blame, we can't point fingers at these things - we can acknowledge that the media definitely affects both men and women's body-image and self-esteem negatively, but to say it causes a deep, disturbing psychological self-harm disorder is just trying to find an easy way out from discovering the more important, and terrifying truths of what caused your issues relating to food.

With that, i think i'll draw this week's post to a close.

If you agree, or disagree or would like me to focus on something specific feel free to leave a comment :) xx <3
- Sequoia.