'Thinspo' vs 'Fitspo"
I have been researching about how social media can make teenagers feel insecure due to the overwhelming amount of distorted and manipulated images of other people's appearances. Many will resort to dieting and unhealthy ways to obtain these body types which are unrealistic. These ways can lead to serious illnesses including anorexia and bulimia as well as others. It has become apparent that social media platforms are also perpetuating these conditions with blogs and journals of pro-ana and pro-mia sites where people view and obey. These communities are a place where sufferers can confined in one another, but they encourage and promote anorexia and bulimia. These 'safe' places include many commandments, tips and goals in order to stave oneself and lose weight. Many included 'thinspiration' images for others to focus on and aim towards.
Thinspiration:
Also known as 'Thinspo', is images of skinny women to motivate ones self to lose weight. It is strongly associated and promotes eating disorders.
After a quick google search, the first photo to appear was the following:
Another trending fad is 'fitspiration' - These images include people that are used to motivate people to get fit through exercise and substantial meals.
The line between 'thinspiration' and 'fitspiration' is quite thin. As both show 'thin' people who aren't necessarily healthy so either can have a negative impact on teenager's perception of body image.
I found a source that I hope to use for my assignment which is about a 17-year old girl, India Edmonds who developed an eating disorder at the age of 14. She began noticing images of her friends and celebrities on social image who were beautiful and thin. As she absorbed all of these, slowly she began to have negative thoughts about her own body image. She began following accounts who focused on 'thinspiration' she went to great extremes to replicate these bodies with her own, through purging, starvation and gruelling exercise, like many people affected by this illness. As she weight decreased she began posting images on social media, gaining thousands of followers and inspiring others to follow her on this unhealthy journey. The increasing amount of people to be admitted for eating disorders with a study conducted in 2010 which concluded that 9% of the Australian population are affected by these disorders.
I will be looking at this article from UK magazine Mirror.co.uk, http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/real-life-stories/thinspiration-selfies-killed-me-anorexia-5245488
I will be speaking to Mr Andrews tomorrow and asking if this would be an appropriate direction to look at for my documentary. I have found this is extremely interesting and I believe it would link well with the rest of my argument.
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