Blogpost 8: Anorexia Nervosa

Sometimes we become so comfortable with our friends and loved ones that we show them who we are all. We speak our minds anytime we want because they accept our bluntness. We think that it's okay to be straight forward and to be as honest as possible. What we don't realize is that sometimes we are unintentionally hurting them. "Fatty" is a name we would usually say comfortably with our friends. However, that label actually becomes unforgettable to some people. It will keep replaying in their minds like a broken record and they will start to assess themselves; their appearance and self image. 
Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder that makes a person regulate their eating habits to the extreme because they fear gaining more weight. They tend to limit themselves or even deny food because they have already distorted their image. In an article by Dr.Alex Yellowlees, Is our obsession with size zero damaging health?, he states that: "In our modern society the relentless promotion of the idealisation of thinness has put women of all ages under intense pressure to strive after the attainment of body perfection." Women today can look everywhere and begin to envy other women's bodies because we all strive for a sort of image that many celebrities have. The word "celebrity" comes with fame, fortune and success; what woman doesn't want that. People don't necessarily want to become a celebrity, they just want what comes with the package. We begin to look up to role models we believe are "perfect" and ruin our self esteems without realizing it. Before we know it, we are already consuming less food, throwing it up or not eating at all; and still we think we are still "fat". This obsession with beauty and being perfect has distorted our minds resulting in harming ourselves to the extremes.
In an article by a daily mail reporter, "'Pro-ana Anorexia blogs nearly killed me': Starving girl, 17, says 'thinspiration' site encouraged her to lose more weight". It is evident from the title alone that this girl, Grainne Binns harmed herself because of this new idea of beauty. It is stated in the article that she was so obsessed with the word "skinny" that she began to put herself in this situation just to hear it from people as well. She also posted pictures in forums to hear comments from people to encourage her with the challenges to become even thinner.
I read in another article that this "pro-ana" has a sort of "cult-like" appeal. Girls believe that "Ana", which short for Anorexia is some sort of god that pushes them to believe that being thin is more beautiful. However, this "god" is actually  helping them kill themselves slowly, and at the same time making them feel guilty that they are not thin enough.

Imagine your sisters or friends in this situation, how would you be able to help them if society has made this image acceptable? 
Runway models especially are one to push this idea of beauty, so how can we believe that this isn't beautiful? Social media has distorted our ideas of beauty to the point where they are not aware that they are actually harming us. We aren't even sure what to want anymore. Do we want big hips with the hourglass figure or this thin, stick-like figure? Regardless of what type of body we have, they still always make us feel unsatisfied. We will never satisfy the idea of beauty and this is the reason why the pain is endless. From our past to present, the pain has only evolved; but still, pain for beauty is still pain.