Sometimes I’m able to clearly see many reasons why eating disorders are so widespread and impact the lives of so many young people, men, women and families that struggle to cope with the pressures they create. Every day when I open my email inbox, I’m met with countless unwanted spam messages about weight loss, new fad diets and exercise plans, so-called miracle weight loss pills or potions, and advertisements for the most beautiful, sexy clothing and swimsuits for thin bodies. Today I was promised “six pack” abs, weight loss recommendations based on my height and weight, a quiz to test how “calorie conscious” I am, and free coupons for sales on health food supplements guaranteed to make me lose weight.
Pro-ana and Pro-ED websites are definitely not to blame for the rise in numbers of people seeking treatment for, or trying to live with an eating disorder. Although the fashion industry is part of the ED epidemic, I believe the true culprits are in the food industry and the weight loss business. These two industries conspire together to make people obese with unhealthy foods and chemical additives that break down their body’s defenses, and then offer to sell miracle solutions for these weight problems. The weight issues and negative stereotypes are propagated by the media and the entertainment business, which is truly just a reflection of what the majority of people want, idolize, or fear the most.
Without a fashion industry walking skeletal beauties down the runways, there would be a lot less thinspiration. Without actresses, musicians, athletes and all other types of performers and public figures struggling with their weight; training their bodies and minds constantly, there would be so much less encouragement and inspiration for the average girl or woman to be a size zero babe. Above all else, we would not struggle with weight and an unhealthy body image if the food industry and media did not set us up from birth to go through it.
Eating disorders and the pro-ana movement are some peoples’ answer to the mounting pressures of today’s society that tell us you must be thin, attractive, talented and/or tremendously smart in order to succeed. I am not the only woman living with an eating disorder and receiving countless spam email messages–triggers in the inbox–every single day. These endless messages go much further to program my subconscious mind than any pro-ana slogans, such as “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.”
The abolition of eating disorders will not come by banning pro-ana websites and discussion forums on the internet, or censoring thinspiration collections and photo albums on xanga and photobucket. It can only come through the majority of people rising up against the old ways of advertising, and fighting back against the health risks in our food supply. We need to change the majority view to accept and embrace the beauty of all life, so we can be free of judging one another and being judged, based on superficial characteristics we possess or struggle to achieve.
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