Body Image Activist, Eating Disorders mamaVISION

WARNING: I DO NOT DO TRIGGER WARNINGS.

For 4 years I have been attempting to educate the public, parents, mental health professionals and anyone else that will listen about pro-anorexia.

Pro-anorexia is the belief that “anorexia is a lifestyle.” Google the terms “proana,” “thinspo” to be sickened. On YouTube, an average of five videos per day are uploaded filled with images, music, and mantras all meant to keep these proana girls motivated on their goal to starve themselves to be like the Hollywood stars they admire.

Most people turn away and tell me “I can’t handle that, but guess what, we must. Others tell me I should be softer, and nicer to celebs who pave the way for girls. Ain’t happenin’

Check out these links to get a sense of what I am talking about here:

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Gemma Ward today -- normal is not cutting it in fashion, she is ready for "plus sized" modeling according to Bryan Boy

Top Fashion Model Gemma Ward has had it — she has called it quits after years of harrassment about her weight Perhaps the final straw was being called a ”Roll Model” by the Sunday Telegraph, read more here (first person to find the roll wins!)

It’s called PUBERTY people.

Celebrating her 22nd birthday in New York last week, Ward was photographed alongside close friend and Sports Illustrated swimwear model, Jessica Gomes. Ward, who was romantically linked to Heath Ledger, disappeared from the fashion industry after his death in January 2008, The Sunday Telegraph reports.

Last week, she was snapped wearing a leopard-print jacket, shorts and biker boots - looking the very picture of a healthy young woman (above).  But the photographs were quickly posted by international fashion blogger Bryan Boy. Reader comments varied from overwhelming support to vicious attacks on her new real shape, with the blogger boy himself saying she could now give “Crystal Renn a run for her money.”

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Howdy! A little blog reconstruction going on here so don’t freak. I’ll be working on a new look and feel so you’ll see continual changes, but in the meantime you’ll see my old header and navigation.

Fall 2006 First header image, what a youngster!

OPEN FORUM!

In the meantime, how about we bring back the open forum? For those of you who are new, the open forum was just an open post where we all chatted about whatever, whenever, and we ended up making a lot of friends. No rules, just talk – go here to check it out.

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Marianne at The Rotund clued me into the latest totally irritating commercial promoting the "thin is in" message.

Purex is running a new ad called "The Thinner Load", starting with the tagline "As things get better, they get thinner."

Since when? How does this relate to laundry detergent, washing clothes, or anything remotely relevant to this product?

Check this out; I grabbed a few screenshots to demonstrate the concept here, see the entire commercial here.

First, we see an old-fashioned wide assed gown..

Evolving to more reasonable female garb…

On to 90s career wear….

And finally, the perfect little skinny skirt reflective of today.

Well, aren't we lucky. Lucky to live in a day and age that we have ad agency guru's sitting around dreaming up this irrelevant crap, being paid a shit-load to do it, and as a result impacting the psyche of the entire female population.

Thinner is not better.
It never has been.
It never will be.

Being YOU is better.
It always has been.
It always will be.

We know this. We hear this. We believe this….but we are so damn gullible, its hard for advertisers to resist pressing our buttons.

So, can we really blame them?

-mV

Your wedding day. The day that you are full of excitement, bounding with energy, and beaming with confidence!

Hmmm…does this model look like she is ready to party?

Or is she ready to start balling? Or maybe ready to keel over?

The designer of these gowns is Amsale, brought to us straight from Ethiopia. Yes, Ethiopia, the country that suffered the 1985 famine that wiped out over 1 million people due to starvation. Wouldn't you think this woman would know better?

Here's her mission statement from her site;

Are you blind? This is not confidence in the eyes of your models. It's death warmed over. It's the quite obvious look of suffering and forced starvation. I would think this misery should be quite familiar to you if you bothered to care.
       
Are these bridesmaids or zombies? Both appear gaunt and tired, and the waif on the right is leaning to the side like she could drop any minute.

"In Ethiopia there were no fashion designers. I never knew that
designing beautiful clothes was a profession to which one could aspire," says Amsale.

Could it be that the people of Ethiopia have more important things to worry about than materialism? Perhaps they are most concerned with feeding their children than wrapping themselves in some overpriced garb created by a pompous designer who has forgotten her roots.

Amsale, you should be ashamed of yourself for parading these sickly girls out on stage to satisfy your ego trip.

Wake up and get real,
mV

Levi's used to be the bomb, but in recent years their brand has tanked due to competition from other small, boutique brands. I personally still love their jeans and their fit…but after seeing their recent ads I will hesitate to purchase in the future.

On Facebook this morning, I was served this disturbing ad of a young woman modeling Levi's that would fit about 1% of the entire population (no girls, this is NOT attractive).

What kind of marketing strategy is this?

This only further alienates their consumers, such as myself, who look to Levi's as a real American brand. Further, a look at their web site homepage shows some dude in skin tight, spandex like, Yellow jeans.

Ahh…I don't think so.
-mV

German Artist Ivonne Thein was so horrified by pro-anorexia web sites that she created "Thirty-Two Kilos" (70 pounds) exhibit….digitally enhanced images glorifying it? or mocking it? or perpetuating it?

If Thein got it, she would realize these images are the best youtube thinspiration yet….

Are you a former Pro-Anorexic who has quit the cult?

Are you willing to participate in a University study on the topic?

Please email me for more info mamaVISION@gmail.com.

Thank you!
mV