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Strollerderby
Never underestimate the power of a woman… in the blogosphere.
Jezebel reported late yesterday that the current ad campaign promoting Pretzel Crisps in New York City, which sports the copy, “You Can Never Be Too Thin,” is being suspended due to pressure from feminists on the web. Supermodel Emme, speaking with journalist Stephanie Markus, called the ads, “heartless and not compassionate, and more than anything just lazy.”
Ouch. But so true, right? I would have gone with, “You Can Never Be Too Salty Or Filled With Carbohydrates.” Rules I like to live by.
But we all know thin is in, and the makers of Pretzel Crisps aren’t the only company touting being taut. Continue reading »
Model Kate Moss recently received a load of negative press after being quoted in Women’s Wear Daily saying, “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.” While a spokesperson for her modeling agency, Storm, said Moss’ words were taken out of context, eating disorder groups pounced. Claiming that this philosophy about food is what drives people to starve themselves, Moss was roundly criticized for being irresponsible and promoting a dangerous lifestyle.
While some may have allowed Moss the benefit of the doubt – after all, we weren’t actually there when she supposedly said those words and magazines are notorious for twisting things up in order to create a buzz – it’s hard to do the same for Snack Factory. In graphic advertisements around New York City, the company is promoting their Pretzel Crisps with the tag line, “You can never be too thin.” Continue reading »
Mama, don’t let your babies grow up to be vegans.
That’s the message in a piece published recently in the Daily Beast by journalist Danielle Friedman, who posits a number of vegans are anorexics in denial.
Friedman went out and spoke with a number of the nation’s leading experts on eating disorders, who reported a high number of supposed vegans in their programs ultimately confess to simply using meat and animal product avoidence as a socially acceptable excuse to avoid food. The problem is so pronounced that Dr. Marcia Herrin, founder of the Dartmouth College Eating Disorders Prevention, Education and Treatment program, is now urging all parents to forbid their children from going vegan till they go to college, arguing that time-pressed families won’t be able to determine if the child’s decision is a well-thought out philosophical decision or simply a “ruse” to cover up a compulsive need to diet. Continue reading »
Anorexia is a serious, often deadly, illness. It’s difficult to treat, hard to live with and the health consequences can last a lifetime.
So why are there so many websites devoted to encouraging it?
Dozens of “pro-ana” websites encourage young women to fast their way to ill-health through “support” groups comprised of other anorexics, “thinspiration” images of dangerously thin celebrities and message boards with tips and information on how to be more effective at starving yourself.
A new study in the American Journal of Public Health examines these websites for the first time. It found over 180 of them. The study finds that the sites are easy to access, promote dangerous practices for maintaining an eating disorder, and create social networks to reinforce the behavior.
I have no doubt that Michelle Obama started her Let’s Move initiative because wants nothing but the best for our nation’s children. But Harriet Brown, author of Brave Girl Eating: A Family’s Struggle with Anorexia, brings up some poignant and critical points about the anti-obesity campaign in her latest column on The Huffington Post. Her overall concern: trying to make kids thinner actually makes them fat.
Brown says she’s “conflicted about the report released in mid-May by Michelle Obama’s task force on childhood obesity,” because the “ideas are all presented in the service of a single goal: to make kids thinner.” She feels it’s dangerous to suggest “that thin is synonymous with healthy, and that we can (and should) make kids thinner.” This opinion is based, of course, on her daughter’s struggle with anorexia. But take one look at where her daughter’s illness started – in her middle school “wellness” class – and you can see that her concerns are not entirely misplaced. Continue reading »
If your daughter happens to open a Teen Cosmo anytime soon, she’ll be bombarded with tips on “getting a white smile for prom,” finding out “Kim Kardashian’s hair secret,” and learning to “dress for her body type,” be it Apple, Pear, or Slim/Athletic.
She’ll also see image after image like the one to the right, of women who are already unusually tall and thin and have been made to look more so. Continue reading »
Any who’s seen Food Inc. (or checked out the list of ingredients in a favorite sugary cereal) knows how important it is to be aware of where your food comes from and what’s in it.
But this does not mean that one should confine herself to raw broccoli and cauliflower–which is exactly what Kristie Rutzel started doing in high school and college, obsessed with a need to avoid anything considered unwholesome. Continue reading »
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