ARGHSDSFFDS! It makes me so mad! I am scrolling through Pinterest and see that someone I follow "just followed Thinspiration Board." WHAT? Is this still a thing?! Actually, what I should be asking is, How is this still a thing?
Body positive" is such a trending topic right now, which I love, which is why I'm surprised that there are still these images portraying a certain way of life online.
I get it, people can be looking for inspiration to get into shape and work out. Fine. There is nothing wrong with that. But they should not be looking to Thinspo posts and images for advice. It is a collection of poison.
Again, I know I need to be careful on how I'm wording this post. I am not slagging off thin people. I do not hate girls who are skinny, I am only a size 8 myself and I hate it when people have a go at slimmer girls. I'm not.
I'm having a go at the toxic images which encourage unhealthy habits and lower self confidence. Poison.
There should be more images promoting self love and a healthy lifestyle. If you want to look for some inspiration, try the "fitspo" tag instead. Which go along the lines of -"strong not skinny" which can help a lot of people put their energy into becoming a healthier version of themselves.
Tumblr and Instagram have put restrictions to what their users can tag and search. The Thinspo tag and other trigger words have either been taken away or a warning pops up before you search those images. For me, I remember that gave me the moment I needed to realise that I really should not be surrounding myself with triggering images.
That's the thing, the internet can be a scary place. It can be great too, but remember when your mum use to warn you about images? It is a cauldron bubbling with poison. They were worried about pornography. They were unaware of more distressing pictures. There are a lot more concerning files on the internet. Under the "thinspiration" tag there are words of encouragement for starvation, tips for dieting in unhealthy ways and so many things along similar lines that I don't want to bring into this post.
People need to be aware of the things they post online. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram; you don't know who could be looking. When someone tweets a status of eating a burger and hash-tagging it "fatty", I feel a little dig. I had a burger yesterday. Does that make me a "fatty"? Suddenly I am thinking of everything I have eaten in that week and I get my pen and paper out to make a diet plan. Oh look, bad habits never really fade, do they?
Give me an hour and I have calmed down, thrown away the diet plan and get a chocolate biscuit and a cup of tea. But you see what I mean? Some people don't have the control to know when to stop with the unhealthy habits. And the Internet are allowing this continue. Sites like Pinterest need be aware of what their site is promoting. Especially since it has a forever growing database (proving this by using pinterest for the selected images).
Instead of images that focus on discipline and calories, they should be encouraging happiness and self acceptance. We should all be supporting each other to love ourselves and since the internet is such a big part of our lives, it should be supporting us too. There are actual people behind these social media websites and if they can just be a bit more human and realise the negative effect that images and other people's status can have, maybe there would be less negativity and negative body images.
It is so important to do what's best for you and your soul.
You're appearance does not define you. It is just a shell for your soul. So don't get lost in it and let it take over your mind.
And breathe!
If you are effected by any topics discussed, here are some helpful links;
http://www.mind.org.uk/
http://www.b-eat.co.uk/
Until next time...
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