Eating Disorder ProAna Blogger Focused on Body Image and Self Esteem

As 2007 comes to a close, I thought we would like to revisit this year in dreaded pictures. These are great, bad examples girls. Hold them up as what you are determined not to be.

Supermodel weighing in at under 100 pounds, standing 5’9, hailed a frickin hero.

Former model dead in dear friends arms. A 60 pound grown woman and no one blinks.

No words.

Top Model Barbie. And we thought regular old barbie was too skinny.

Mother, friend, doctor…taken from rising star son by a fat sucking surgeon. If only she would have known how truly beautiful she was.

Spine of anorexic mannequin whispers to you “size zero.”

Teeny Vogue promotes toothpick legs driving home thinspiration message to teenage girls worldwide.

Size 0 pills are all the rage.

Jennifer Hewlett’s ass is evaluated by the world.

Diabetics discover no shots = no fat.

Anorexic child paraded on American TV for our viewing pleasure.

RETRACTION AUGUST 16, 2008

I received a heartfelt message from the mother of the child above, she said the following:

We did not take pleasure having to go on our local news to try to raise money for our daughters treatment when insurance turned us down.  We did the only thing we could think of ,which was to bring to light the fact that our state insurance would not pay for a 10 year old to go into treatment because it was out of state. We told our story , and because we came forward ,the treatment center  was willing to help us. I would not have talked openly about our story otherwise. If I had to do it again I would , because it not only helped us but through my journey I have met other families in our situation.   I am all for the fact that you want to bring ED to light and show how bad they are , but we really don’t like the
 fact that it sounds like we took pleasure in going public, because we didn’t. We have had to battle this illness for 2 years now and it is the hardest thing our family has ever had to go through.  I just wish that you would think about what the families might think when they see what you put about their child on your site.

RESPONSE FROM MAMAV:

Thank you for reaching out to me and explaining your story. I will post a follow up on your daughter and revise the caption as you have requested. How is your daughter doing? Have you been able get all the help you need?
 
My blog is sharp and cutting. I feel it needs to be to express the point of desparation we are in with this disease and culture. I do not intend to hurt individuals such and yourself, and for that I sincerely apologize for hurting you and your family. You have been through enough already. I hope you will accept my sincere apology.

Size 8 is the new full size according to ANTM. Tyra also manages to make old horrifying (notice reflection in mirror).

Guys join in the anorexic fun.

Pro Ana Halloween costume makes its debut. Add some fake jugs and we are in for some fun.

Supermodel Gemma Ward put to shame for her chubby appearance.

Anorexic poses for billboard in Italy, causing nothing more than a blip on the fashionista radar.

Ugly Betty beautified and skinnyfied on Glamour.

Mum kisses her little girl goodbye as she sends the 12 year old to the wolves.

Young woman holds coins and rings in her collarbones and shouts to mamaV “it was a joke!” (still don’t get it).

Spooky models remind girls far and wide runway modeling is not for the faint of heart.

Tunsdall kicks ass when she is told she is “too old to be a rockstar” at 26 years of age.

Faith Hill’s imperfections gleefully brushed away for her adoring fans.

“Skinny bitches” continue to shoot odd pictures of themselves, in various awkward poses and launch them to cyberspace with total disregard of conseqence.

Gil falls silent. But rumor has it she is still with us.

Hollywood knob Perez Hilton makes fun of mental illness and is applauded for his efforts.

Beauty lives on through murder and mayhem, thanks to Tyra Banks deeming this image “fierce!”

The notion of aging gracefully disapears from society.

New Beauty magazine offers every possible way to nip, tuck, and butcher your god given body.

MamaV blows the dust off her 1987 Vogue to remind us where we have been.

We are all still here. We are trying and we are hopeful.

-mamaV

Misery. We wallow in it, we promote it, we continue behaviors to fuel it, all while telling others we are trying. Are we trying? Or have you given up at the moment?

If you are at the depths of your ED, you are probably ready to smack me right now, but that’s good. At least you are alive and thinking. The hard thing about eating disorders is they are all encompassing. You are either in, or out, there’s is not a lot of in between.

Plus nothing phases you when you are in deep. The mind reels incessantly, like a hamster on a wheel, squeaking as it spins, day in and day out, until you don’t know what normal is anymore. Can you imagine if someone was tape recording your daily thoughts? Nuts. Absolutely insane.

How many times would you say negative feelings about yourself?

How much would you be questioning your actions? What you said? How you said it? What ‘they’ think of you?

It’s a damn living nightmare, but I am here to say you can come back. Come back stronger, and harder, and more confident. You can beat this devil of a disease, but it takes persistence, resilience, and one hell of a lot of energy.

Let me tell you what’s waiting for you on the other side. Visualize being capable of;

Reading a book and not losing your place because you can’t concentrate on anything but hunger pains.

Sitting at the dinner table with friends, focused on their faces, expressions, and their words, rather than the food that will not stop calling your name.

The mirror becomes just a mirror, not the arch enemy, judge and jury.

Forgetting, honestly, forgetting to eat because you were so engaged in an activity.

Tell me the last thing you did where you felt like you were in the moment?

Just living life for life’s sake.

Let’s talk new year.  Fresh start. Breaking old habits. Building upon healthy ones.

I want you to: Believe, conceive, achieve.

-mamaV

PS my new year’s resolution is to stop underestimating. When it comes to time, energy, effort, you name it- I will underestimate what it will take to accomplish it. I like to call it “optimism….to a fault.”

It’s time to bring on board someone who is living an eating disorder now and can relate to your needs now. Please welcome the first mamaVISION contributor, twistedSISTER.

She is opting to remain incognito, as I did for the first year of blogging, but she is ready to lend a compassionate ear,  quick wit, and the good old mamaVISION cut-to-the-point attitude that some of you know, love, and sometimes hate.

Her eating disorder is eating her alive, yet she is a talker, a thinker, and a dreamer. 

Her mental illness leads to regular “freak out modes,” as we have come to call them, but she lives on (whether she wants to or not). That’s what I call courage.

TwistedSISTER has struggled beyond my wildest imagination. I watch her in awe. She is a survivor. She is a dear friend. And she is to me, a little sister. 

So why not call her blog, Little Sis?

Too normal. She’s twisted. That’s why I love her.

-mamaV

Thanksgiving is a living hell.

Food. Everywhere, all day long. Endless talk of food, thoughts of food, an eating disordered nightmare.

Thanksgiving is about family and togetherness…but the food takes center stage. When I was in the height of my eating disorder wanted to crawl under the table, pop in some earplugs and hide.

I recall thinking everyone was watching what I was eating. In reality they could have cared less, they were too busy enjoying themselves.

I recall watching others enjoy their food, eyes lit up with excitement when the huge, glistening brown turkey finally landed on the table. As their mouths watered, mine dried up as I calculated the fat grams in my head.

That was then, and this is now.

I spent Thanksgiving first with my parents, for brunch at the house I grew up in. Grandma whipped up the usually 14 course meal.  We grazed as we talked, eating accompanying our lively discussion.

We headed back home in the late afternoon to spend our first Thanksgiving “as a family,”  just the four of us; my husband, and two children. We had beef roast, and pasta, and garlic bread…and homemade apple pie. Our “traditional” favorites since we had no one else to please.

It’s the little things.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-a2mf4ymuY]

Simplicity.

I hope and I pray that one day you to will join me here on the other side.

Where life is about living.

And eating is an afterthought.

Love,

mamaV

(Team Rust in action)

Check out this cool film made by three sisters, shot, edited and created in in less than 24 hours! These high school girls submitted their entry into the Insomnia Film Festival sponsored by Apple.

A Waist of Life shows how fashion influences eating disorders, a point I continually reinforce and support.

(Read the covers closely)

Click here to view A Waist of Life and cast your vote to support the film.

Bravo Rust Sisters,

-mamaV

A child is one of life’s most precious gifts. As a mother of two, I simply can not understand or accept how a mother could possibly decide to live the “anorexic lifestyle” or be “pro ana.”

Does it get anymore vain and selfish than this?

Live Journal has quite a growing bunch of mothers who share their pro anorexic lifestyle stories, right out there for the world to see, as if this is something to be proud of. 

318 members

302 watchers

They carry on as if this is a game, all the while their children suffering in the background, as seen in this lovely post;

WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME
I CANT HOLD FOOD IN MY STOMACH ANYMORE EVEN THE KIDS R ASKING QUESTION
MOM U R ALWAYS BARFING

WHAT DO YOU SAY TO YOUR KIDS IN A SITUATION LIKE MINE
I HATE MYSELF
I THOUGH I WAS FOOLING EVERYONE I GUESS NOT

Kids are keen. They are intuitive. They do not miss a beat, even at just a few years of age they sense what is going on in the household.

When you are able to give birth to a child, and that child is happy and healthy, I don’t think there is much more one can ask for in life. From that day forward, our job as mothers is to protect that child. Provide them with a secure, balanced, positive enviroment  to grow and to thrive, and to become the person they desire to be.

There is no way in hell a mother can be pro ana, and be a healthy positive influence on her child. It’s impossible. These women who are are CHOOSING this selfish, dangerous, vain lifestyle shouldn’t be parents. I believe if a social worker were to see their online behavior, their parental ability would be in jeopardy.

For the past year, I have read countless stories from courageous young women who post here with their horror stories about their own mothers. They tell how their mothers influenced their own beauty and body image, they express details on their recollection of a childhood filled with negativity towards food, and their mothers constantly warning them not to eat for they too would fall victim to the dreaded fat. They reveal hurt feelings about their mother’s who were more concerned about themselves, than for them or their other siblings.

If your mother is one of these individuals, you need to know this, and believe this. Make it your mantra.

It is not your fault. It is not about you. Your mother was a selfish person before you were born, and she will continue to be this selfish person as you grow and recover from your eating disorder.

Let her be your great bad example. Let her be the person you think of when you think of what you never want to be.

And when the glorious, life changing day comes, when you are given the gift of a child you will understand the depth of love a real mother should have and want nothing more then for your child to live a happy, healthy life providing them with nothing but unconditional love.

Please feel free to share your personal story of your mother. Was she a positive influence on your beauty and body image? Or did she contribute to you low self esteem and/or eating disorder?

Let these pro ana Mom’s know what they are doing to their kids, maybe a few of them will head our advice and get their head screwed on straight.

-mamaV

Mother daughter image credit: Julie Harris

Tyra Banks is off her rocker. After being stalked and humilated by the paparazzi for her weight, she turns around and redefines “plus size” as a skinny mini size 8.

We are all now “plus-sized” thanks to America’s Next Top Model show and the model of the moment Sarah Hartshorne!

Sarah leads the plus sized parade prancing in at:

Height: 5’10

Weight: 150 pounds

Size : 8

Hang on, that’s me, that’s my size. I’m confused.

As most of you know, when I was modeling the size requirement was size 8. I am a size 8 now, but I am 30 pounds heavier. Hmm…..

Have I been duped?

Did the sizes change?

Did the scale change?

Did I fry too many brain cells starvation dieting?

(Let’s not even go into the image in the mirror…oh the horror of aging!)

Sarah is no plus size and this is a load of crap. Why the hell did she accept the title “plus size” when she knows she doesn’t fit the bill? I guess she was not willing to miss her 15 minutes of fame.

Girls, this is bullshit. Don’t buy into it.

If you do, you’ll be sunk like the rest of the pro anorexia suckers that paste on their smile as they die inside from starvation and self hatred. They will quickly reel you into their misery filled existence because they need company, reassurance, and purpose to keep their hope alive. Their heads filled with nothing but desire to become someone else.

(Ugly, Ugly, and Ugly)

It’s a dead end. Pro ana’s don’t care about you- they care about themselves. This is simply about one thing, and one thing only only - self esteem. Starving yourself will not grow it. Let’s be real already.

Bones are not attractive.

Bones are not sexy.

Bones are not cool.

Vanity. Damn ugly.

-mamaV

————————————————————————-

Thanks to Tipster Laura for this story.

Yes Vanessa, I had to drag Pro Ana’s into this story.

*All photos complements of the World Wide PUBLIC Web! 

I figured I might as well repost these for review as well. Do you see yourself here?

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=gUsKIApTewQ]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li3mg1GrKe0]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vilUhBhNnQc]

I am often asked my views on the obesity epidemic in this country, and up until now my response has been “different problem, different solution.”

But then, I started thinking how obesity is not a totally different problem – it’s just another form of disordered eating.

We are country full of disordered eaters. Marketers are pumping out new diets to masses, and we gladly fork over $$$ in a pathetic, desperate search for happiness. We accept any and all side effects in order to lose weight, such as the risk of shitting in your pants with a beauty of a drug called Alli.

Why are we at war with our bodies? 

What is an eating disorder anyway?

How much of our desire to be thin is driven by what others think of us?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9JXxOoxH-o]

Holidays are food fests, and Sunday football games are just another reason to fill our faces. When I think of an obese person and a person with an eating disorder sitting through a family event, I visualize the similar thoughts spinning in their heads; 

Should I eat? I will not eat that. Screw it! I’m fat and a loser. Who cares? I’ll eat it, but then fast tomorrow. Or run an extra mile. Or purge. Or….

(All the while the little girl’s ears are keenly tuned into their oblivious Aunts, Grandmas, and even their own Mother gab on and on about their fat asses….the little ones finger rolls of skin underneath their t-shirts and stare at their pie as their new arch enemy).

Sad state of affairs. But do you know what is even more depressing? We don’t support each other. We mock each other, look each other up and down and judge, judge, judge.

C’mon ladies. Women are caddy as hell. We make this situation worse. We revel in a friend or celebrity gaining weight (ie. the slaughter of Britney Spears) and we are green eyed monsters when a friend is looking good.

Why? Is gossip fun? Well, it’s not. Its cruel, and frankly it’s evil. Strong word but necessary.

I’ve had enough of fat jokes. They are not funny. Even the word “fat” is offensive. I prefer overweight, and I have taught my children the same. I have compassion for obese individuals, just as I do for those with eating disorders.

And you should too. Listen to this quite popular blogger talk about fat people and look at the pure satisfaction in her eyes. Why does she get such pleasure from other people’s pain? What have obese individuals done to her?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NllpNPoHTI0]

She states the “skinny” are oppressed. Her argument is a stretch, but ok, she has a right to her opinion. The main reason I point to this young woman is because she reflects the passion behind the divide between the underweight and overweight in this country

And finally, I feel that unless a person’s health is being affected by their weight, so be it. Let ’em be already. I like those with some meat on their bones (lord knows all I do is look at twigs all day for this blog, it gets quite sickening). I say, as long you are happy with yourself inside, awesome, be you. Let’s live LIFE….and everyone get off the FAT attacks.

To quote a phrase from good ole’ Rodney King “can’t we all just get along?”

-mamaV 

*Delibrate Title. Mean spirited stories draw in readers. God forbid someone calls you a fat ass, but when someone else suffers this insult it’s like bring it on!

An Iowa researcher is studying a little-known eating disorder that some doctors may miss: purging disorder.

Though similar to women with bulimia, patients who fit this description don’t binge-eat. Yet they feel compelled to purge, usually by vomiting, even after eating only a small or normal amount of food, said Pamela Keel, the University of Iowa researcher who led a study on the subject.

Visit any pro ana board to see the purging disorder in action, such as this young woman freaking out, asking her cohorts if its ok she ate broccoli……it’s broccoli for goodness sake.

I think we have now just become so completely disordered in our eating habits we don’t even know what is “normal” anymore. No need to really binge to feel guilty, eat just a handful of grapes and its time to let it fly since pro ana’s have made eating a sin.

Keel clearly recognizes this is not a new phenomenon, stating “purging disorder is new in the sense that it has not been officially recognized as a unique condition in the classification of eating disorders. But it’s not a new problem, women were struggling with purging disorder long before we began studying it.”

On the plus side, this is a big step in terms of insurance coverage, since a new classification for purging disorders will bring with it treatment options previously not available. 

Final note, the most interesting part of the study was the comparison made on cholecystokinin, the chemical in our bodies that make us feel full when eating. Women with bulimia has less of this chemical, women with purging disorder had more of this chemical, triggering a feeling of fullness.

This adds validity to the study, and shows the existence of a chemical reason some women actually feel “too full” after eating, but I can’t help but wonder how much of this is psychological.

-mamaV

Cool anti ana avatars, read em’ & live em’ girls!

Next up, a fun little weekend project.

1) Go to office depot and get some bright orange post its.

2) Write a positive body message of inspiration for yourself and others.

3) Stick it in a public place, one frequented by women (bathrooms are perfect).

4) Be a part of the real body revolution started by WeBiteBack!

5) Believe what you wrote, repeat it, live it.

6) Report your posting to The Orange Revolution.

This thing is going international….check out this one in Australia!

chuck the scale : ditch the fashion rags : check out the library : buy some new music : learn something new: no fat chat : be kind : believe in you :

Love you, enjoy the warm air and do something different this weekend

mv

We have had some healthy debates since the loss of Kristi and the Internet Suicide post. I wanted to thank you all for your heartfelt, pissed off, sometimes angry, sometimes sad comments – I can not thank you enough.

Here is what I have learned about the Pro-Anorexia community, thanks to you.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZNSc0BAxZk]

With that said, I think we need to separate eating disorder sufferers into groups – they are vast and different. We all tend to relate back to our own experiences and this can really limit our perspective. I see the differentiation as follows:

1 Anorexia/Bulimia is a brain disease.

Food and control go hand in hand. The control gained by restricting food intake is done in an attempt to compensate for feelings and emotions that may otherwise seem over-whelming. For some, dieting, bingeing, and purging may begin as a way to cope with painful emotions and to feel in control of one’s life, but ultimately, these behaviors will damage a person’s physical and emotional health, self-esteem, and sense of competence and control.

(Images from documentary THIN by Lauren Greenfield)

Studies show that in some individuals with eating disorders, certain brain chemicals that control hunger, appetite, and digestion are imbalanced. The exact meaning and implications of these imbalances remains under investigation.

Eating disorders often run in families. Current research is indicates that there are significant genetic contributions to eating disorders.

2 Anorexia/Bulimia is a media disease.

Women of today look to models and hollywood for their standard of beauty, thinspiration images fill their heads, and send these individuals on a quest to “be anorexic.”

One does not need to try to be anorexic if they fall into category #1 above. When your eating disorder stems from brain chemicals or genetics, your goal is to try NOT to be anorexic.

In the case of the anorexic wanna-be’s it seems the desire to be thin starts innocently enough but overtime evolves into something more complicated-something I equate to brainwashing.

You know what really scares me? This group seems to dominate the Pro-Anorexia sites and YouTube. Their influence can not be underestimated. Day after day I receive messages from women stating they are drawn to their Thinspiration videos and images even though they know how detrimental they are to their recovery.

3 Anorexia/Bulimia is a family disease.

Not don’t freak out here, I am not pulling the ole’ Giselle theory on you.

By saying “family” I mean to say that many girls can point back to a specific incident or one comment made by a family member and/or friend that seemed to immediately trigger their dieting, which evolved to restricting, purging, exercising and ultimately anorexia.

A grandpa that called you fat.

A sister that compared her thighs to yours.

A mom that dieted incessantly.

A father that spoke of women being fat.

Sound familiar? All too familiar, I hear these stories daily.

It is these types of comments that take us from here:

True Colors by Dove

To here:

THIN documentary

4 Anorexia/Bulimia is a combination of all of the above.

To confuse things more, many of us likely see parts of our disorder in 1, 2, and 3. So how to make sense of it all? I am not sure we need to. Instead focus on indentifying where your disorder stems from, and seek help. Professional help, perhaps supplemented by online forms of support. I do understand the insurance related issues many of you face, but please reach out to NEDA to see if there are free or discounted forms of treatment available.

—

Which brings me to my final thought for the day.

Pro-Anorexia groups are receiving a bad rap…time for a name change. You need to re-invent yourselves into something that is not an immediate RED FLAG to every parent out there, not to mention the media who loves to jump all over you.

Those of you who a receiving support from the Pro-Anorexia sites, namely the Live Journal friends who have posted here, what to you think of differentiating yourself from the pack? I really think this is essential. There is a site called WeBiteBack which may interest you. They call their group post-pro-anorexia.

Check it out and let me know your thoughts,

mamaVISION

(a.k.a. mamaV as I have come to be known by some. So hip.).

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Anorexia has killed yet another, but this time the death of a young girl is documented, minute by minute, for the world to see.

Kristi, the ring leader of the Live Journal Pro-Anorexia site documents her last moments of life on the post below, proving yet again the adapting pro-ana lifestyle is messing with fire.

No fear pro-anas, your journals will not miss a beat. Your new leader immediately took over for Kristi, reiterated the PRO-ANA MISSION, and dedicated to convincing us all you are an eating disorder “support” site.

Hold your comments Pro-Anas: I have no intention of interfering with your beloved sites, since I am a believer in free speech and removing the pro-ana sites from the web serves no purpose. I refuse to put my head in the sand.

My purpose is to educate. Educate parents, friends, and family on the rampant nature of the Pro-Anorexia community online.

My message is getting through, I receive comments from girls from all over the world that admit they visit your sick community, and have realized you are leading them down a path towards destruction.

PARENTS, HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW.

These are the bracelets they where, proud of their starvation lifestyle. The bracelets readily available online:

This is their status symbol. A feeding tube, afterall, proves you are a hard core anorexic:

This is what they stress about, a day over 200 calories is a total crisis:

These are their proud snapshots, showing off their accomplishments for all to see:

Why do I care? This was me, a model at 16, 5’9, 125 pounds and miserable as hell. My self confidence stripped from me by my Modeling agent and the Fashion Industry.

No one is going to tell me that the Media does not play a role in anorexia- not in every case, but in many.

The worst part of this story? The pro-anorexic girls I “featured” here would be proud to have their skeletons highlighted for the world to see. Their starvation success achieved, the attention they crave fulfilled.

If you want to join my cause, please leave your comments on the Official Public Petition to the Council of American Fashion Designers.

Together we can end this absolute madness.

-mamaVISION

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The pressure is on the Fashion world as they prepare for New York Fashion week, starting February 2, 2007. So the organizers of New York’s fashion shows put their heads together and issued guidelines to tackle the problem of too-skinny models:

1 We recommended models with eating disorders seek treatment.

2 Young models should work limited hours.

3 Healthy food to be supplied backstage.

4 Smoking and alcohol be banned.

Ummm, I don’t know what you are thinking but is this a totally lame plan?

Let me see, we are going to “recommend you seek treatment” -when is this reccommendation going to happen, before or after you use their bodies to show off your collections? Are you going to hand the girls flyers on the dangers of eating disorders and then send them on their way?

Young models, please limit your hours. Limit your hours to what and for what? Resting does not cure an eating disorder.

Please eat the healthy food we have provided. Anorexics don’t eat food, healthy or not, so they are out of luck. Bulimics throw up their food, healthy or not, so this doesn’t do the trick for them either.

No smoking or alcohol please. What does this have to do eating disorders?

Then we have the famous Ford Modeling Agency execs piping in with their oh so cherry voices “I think the new Council of Fashion Designers of American CFDA guidelines are fantastic,” Katie Ford, chief executive of Ford Modeling Agency, told Reuters. “I think just discussing it creates a lot of awareness for designers and all people who are watching models and I think it’s a good thing.”

I’ve got news for you Katie Ford, its your bookers who see your girls daily, and tell them to lose weight. They are on the front line of the problem. How is the CFDA’s solutions just simply fantastic as you say? Because you think this takes you off the hook? Ford is notorious for looking the other way on this issue, and I can see you are going to keep the good old tradition going. What a farce.

My prediction? We lose another young life before or during the NY show. But I am afraid not even that will wake these people up.

This week LATimes asks the question “Is Skinny Going Out Of Style? ” The ultra-thin model issue remains at the forefront thanks to designer Diane von Furstenberg’s letter to the Council of Fashion Designers of America urging them to take a position on the issue of underweight models.

Frankly, it’s pathetic that someone of von Furstenberg’s status needs to literally sit down and draft a letter to her cohorts in the Fashion Industry asking them actually look their beloved, pre-teen models in the eyes and see their pain.

Put aside the designers themselves for a moment, and let’s talk about the audience. Anyone who sat there during this show, and watched this obviously sick, young girl prance the damn “catwalk”, as it is favorably called, and didn’t react should be ashamed of yourselves.

How do you watch this, see her bones literally sticking out of her frail frame, the dark circles under her eyes, and the pain in her expression, and clap for this year’s amazing collections, yelling “Bravo” to the warped designers who created this monster of a business?

This whole thing is totally beyond me.

Von Furstenbery recognized this as a global fashion issue and stated ”as designers, we cannot ignore the impact fashion has on body image. We share a responsibility to protect women, and very young girls in particular, within the industry, sending the message that health is beauty.”

We need to share in this responsibility…remember that each one of those fashion magazines you purchase only drives this business. So, think about ditching them. What do they do for your self esteem besides send you deeper into your body image issues? Free yourself of this trap and how happy you will be.

I got a bad feeling, skinny ain’t going out of style anytime soon.

___________________________________________________________

7 million women and 1 million men have anorexia, an epidemic level according to the National Assn. of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders of Highland Park, Ill.

If you need help, please call the ANAD hotline, 847-831-3438 (Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm, Central Time)