- Stefanie Scarlett wrote "Thinspiration Obsession with body image feeds eating disorders." for the Journal Gazette and was published in April 2003. In her piece, she explains the harm that these blogs are doing to young girls. Her first sentence is what she sees as the pro-ana, or anorexia, movement's motto: "I believe in perfection and strive to attain it" (Scarlett 2003). This is what she goes on to talk about as the bloggers' main goal. Scarlett goes on to explain how these people are looking for control, but losing it in the process (2003). They also have hostile attitudes toward people who tell them that they are wrong and need help. The blogs are not helping them, they are making the situation worse. Society's view of beauty plays a major role in this. Many of the pictures are of celebrities or advertisements. Scarlett says that statistics are showing that eating disorder patients are getting younger and younger (2003). She speaks with a girl in recovery who explains that the choice is between being thin or being happy (Scarlett 2003). Most people will choose thin. http://search.proquest.com.proxy.lib.umich.edu/docview/411062981
- Brooke Auxier's article, "Dangerous online culture glorifies eating disorders.", published in Capital in March 2012 goes deeper into the world of thinspiration. She also brings up pro-mia blogs, for bulimia. Her example for a post on one of these blogs is "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels" (Auxier 2012). These blogs are seen as communities to people with eating disorders, but they encourage them to harm themselves further, instead of seeking help (Auxier 2012). This is affecting teen girls the most and is really just another form of peer pressure. The internet is a huge catalyst in the rise of eating disorders (Auxier 2012). Many websites are trying to shut down the blogs, but many skate by. http://search.proquest.com.proxy.lib.umich.edu/docview/963532044
- Kristen Tillotson wrote "Social media becomes a battleground on body image: Eating-disorder activists put the squeeze on "thinspo" promoters." for the Star Tribune in April 2012. Tillotson talks about these "thinspo" blogs and their main purpose is to show pictures of what they want to look like and tips on losing weight (2012). Some even try to hide under the term "fitspo" to make it sound healthier, but they are spreading the same harmful message (Tillotson 2012). They try to justify their behavior by calling it a "lifestyle choice" (Tillotson 2012). Many of the users see losing weight as a competition between bloggers. One quote she took from a blog was, "Hunger hurts, but starving works" (Tillotson 2012). NEDA (National Eating Disorder Association) has encouraged social networking sites to block these blogs, but people are worried about censorship But as one expert put it, they would not hesitate to censor blogs promoting other diseases like cancer (Tillotson 2012). http://search.proquest.com.proxy.lib.umich.edu/docview/1000482667
- Martha Irvine's article "Blogs a dangerous source of 'thinspiration'." for the Toronto Star in June 2005. Irvine explains that "Ana" is the manifestation of anorexia (2005). Eating disorder patients often consider her a real friend, and are forced to say goodbye during recovery (Irvine 2005). This is not an easy feat. This "friend" mentality is only encouraged online. To some bloggers, Ana is like a religion and they see the blogs as a community where they can encourage each other (Irvine 2005). They ignore the harm this causes. Irvine interviews a girl who ran a thinspo blog. She said that she loved the attention she got for it, but when she entered treatment, she began to realize she was helping kill young girls like herself (Irvine 2005). It is terrifying to see how wide reaching these blogs really are. http://search.proquest.com.proxy.lib.umich.edu/docview/438834906
I was not surprised by these articles. I have seen these blogs firsthand using tumblr. They are everywhere. The quotes are very shocking, though. They are blunt and get the blogs message across clearly. The scariest part is that you don't have to go looking for these blogs. They can show up at any time when you search for something completely unrelated. It is terrifying to think how easy it would be to get sucked into one of these blogs and suddenly find yourself in a downward spiral. They target people with low self-esteem and body image issues. These people are vulnerable and looking for help. They think these blogs will give them what they need. Thinspiration blogs must be taken down before they do more harm.
Here is a video to further explain the reach these blogs have and the harm that they can cause people, especially young girls.
