Alexa Chung Doesn’t Want To Be Your Thinspo
LOVED reading this post.
Though many seem to be less sympathetic to the plight of the “thin”, it’s fundamentally important to me that we stop judging women for what they look like. All women. Including her. And her. And her.
There are some SERIOUS issues when it comes to body diversity in fashion, television, films, magazines and other media. Simply put, the majority of the bodies we see represent only a TINY fraction of what the population looks like. Or even possibly COULD look like. The average fashion model represents a body type that only about 3% of women in the world can attain healthily (and that’s assuming that she, herself, is in fact healthy. Eating disorders in the fashion community are nothing new). The thing is, that we can’t determine health by looking at someone. And calling people disgusting, whether they are thin OR larger, is WRONG. Bullying. Mean. I don’t care what your purpose is; making someone feel badly for the body they are in is NOT the way to go.
So I defend all bodies.. .but not all behaviors. Meaning, I can be anti-eating disorders without commenting that someone looks ill or emaciated. I can promote body diversity and speak about photoshopping practices without putting people down. I don’t have to compare women to get my point across: comparing hurts us all.
Good for Alexa to speak up about it. It’s tricky to talk body image in the fashion industry, but she handles it fairly well.
Excerpt via Jezebel
The British former model and television presenter had to temporarily shut down her Instagram in April after her followers started commenting obsessively about her body in ways almost anyone would find distressing — people regularly called her body “disgusting,” “ugly,” “gross,” and worse, and others said that simply posting pictures of herself going about her daily business was tantamount to promoting thinspo.
“I think it’s about time people stopped judging women on their appearance and more on their intellect. Like you can appreciate my style without having to appreciate my weight. It’s not actually mutually exclusive. I just get frustrated because just because I exist in this shape doesn’t mean that I’m like advocating it.”
“I just think that whole culture of hatred, and also feeling like it’s your right to judge people when you don’t know them is really fucked up. So I’m pleased I experienced that side of it, so I can learn to be a better person on the other side of it. I’m sure in the past I’ve been judgmental too…Self esteem, that’s something you got to work on yourself. I know for me it’s different day to day.”
When it comes to fitness and body image, I’ve taken a pretty firm stance. All bodies are good bodies. You can’t hate yourself healthy. You can’t determine someone’s health by looking at them. Comparison is the thief of joy (and pointless). What your body can do is more important than what it looks like. And the needs of our bodies trump the needs of our egos, when it comes to keeping them healthy. (Ego needs are important too, but they cannot be solved with diet and exercise. That’s about attitude and changing how you think and feel about your body).
Along those lines, I don’t post ‘fitspo’ images here. I don’t believe it’s necessary or helpful to compare ourselves to others, and I also recognize that much like the images of very thin models we’re used to seeing in magazines, many fitness models are also photoshopped and represent unrealistic ideals to aspire to. And in my body positive space, there’s simply no room for any of that.
Don’t get me wrong: I think some of these women are bad ass fitness rockstars. I’m at a place now where I can admire their bodies without feeling negative about my own. But I’m acutely aware that even they don’t look like that in real life. I know that the kind of life I’d have to live to even come close to their bodies is NOT one I want. I train hard. I eat healthy. I like my body. But i have a life outside of the gym. And it includes cake, wine, pizza and sometimes bacon. I need my body in order to live my life, but my body doesn’t rule my life.
The shift from very thin, emaciated looking role models to the ‘fitspo’ girls seems like a slightly better alternative at first glance. But it’s INCREDIBLY important that we not swap one unhealthy ideal for another. (honestly, we shouldn’t have any ideals). The truth is that many fitness models employ incredibly unhealthy techniques in order to get as lean as they are in pics and in competition. They also don’t look like that all year round.
This picture makes me cry. By no means is it the worst of its kind, but it represents a big problem we have here on Tumblr.
I love Tumblr. I find inspiration here every, single day. I love hearing from you guys, and seeing your familiar names pop up in my dashboard. But in between the recipes, workouts and tips, there’s an alarming (ALARMING, SADDENING, DANGEROUS) amount of Thinspo (pro-thin) and ProAna (pro-anorexia/eating disorders) blogs out there claiming to be pro-health. Some are quite obvious, and others not so much.
I’m not calling anyone out, nor do I think that all blogs with the following signs are terrible. I’m not mad at the girls who run these blogs: this is how they are reaching out and when you’re falling you hold on to whatever you can, including building a community of people who feel the same way. There’s a lot more going on than just the posts, so my purpose is not to bash them but to point out some of the characteristics of a blog that YOU might not want to follow. Communities can be great, but only if they’re helping. Many of these blogs reinforce the hurt we feel, which leaves us weaker not stronger. It’s up to the bloggers to change their tone if they choose. But it’s up to you to make sure the messages on your dashboard aren’t hurting you longterm.
Before you follow, look for some of the signs of an unhealthy blog:
It’s important to me not to single anyone out (hey, I’m a girly girl too and I love me some Disney princesses), but I have noticed a bizarre obsession with Disney characters in relation to Thispo and body image here on Tumblr.
This might help put things in perspective: something to think about next time you think you want Jasmine’s body (which I find odd & funny, yet the 6 year old in me totally understands. I wanted it too at some point).
Great images!
All the Disney princesses/heroins seem to be fairly popular on tumblr these days.
A lot of the health & fitness girlies I follow share this obsession.
You know those horribly photoshopped models you think give a bad image? Or the sickly thinspo blogs you hate and constantly (rightly) complain about?
OK…
Here’s a screencap of the mermaid thingy.
Here’s a cut-out of her wrist/forearm.
Here’s how many wrist-widths her waist is.
Two. But they have to overlap to fit.
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How about another favourite?
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One more
