Some bones to pick

A post by Ariel Feldman at the Splendora Style blog — a website based in San Francisco with notes about salons, spas, boutiques, restaurants, vacations spots, and things hot in chic — asks why more aren’t concerned with today’s obsession with thinness and how much girls are exposed to its pressures.

It’s a rant from a female perspective that offers some food for thought.

Pro-Ana/Mia: Where Did This Freakish Cult Come From?

So I was browsing...and found myself in the middle of a heated discussion. The group, which is for the abolishment of Pro-Ana cults (just want to make that clear) lists the top websites for "Ana/Mias" and... I couldn't truly figure out what all the fuss was about until I got to this quote from a girl about my age:

"You can learn to love anything, I think, if you need to badly enough. I trained myself to enjoy feeling hungry. If my stomach contracts, or I wake up feeling nauseated, or I'm light-headed or have a hunger headache, or better yet, all of the above, it means I'm getting thinner, so it feels good. I feel strong, on top of myself, in control. "

I actually think I almost yelled out loud at my computer screen upon seeing that. Seriously, if you're not appalled, re-read that again and then let me know what you think....

...I don't want to go on and rant about this, and believe me I can (If you've read any of my other posts you know the only thing I tend to DO is rant...), but I feel this speaks for itself. The anorexic movement circa Kate Moss in the early 90's is so not over with. In fact, it's probably worse than it's ever been before, and as a teenage girl with friends that are at the most vulnerable age to be affected, I'm worried. I'm worried because if no one had brought this to my attention in the first place, I wouldn't have known about it. I'm worried because if this isn't being brought to the attention of myself or other girls my age, then who does know about it? Who knows about these girls that are building these websites and clearly struggling with some pretty heavy shnikey? And who, if they already know, is pro-active enough to do something more than say that there's a problem? Feeding them Mickey D's won't help, and clearly that's not even an option.

I'd like to know the answers to those questions, but more importantly I'd like people other than myself to read those forums and have some type of reaction....Yes, they look sick; that's the point. What happened to empathy? Since when do we look at girls who are literally BONES and disregard it because that seems to be the norm? Perhaps it's not just these girls who are suffering from a sickness—perhaps its a possibility that our over-exposure to spindly shots of MK and Ms. Bosworth are, frankly, warping our minds.

All I can say is someone better figure out what's sparking this skinny pandemic, and figure it out fast, 'cause the next thing you know the government's gonna start banning fries and make trans-fat illegal...

...oh wait, they already did.