The Resurgence of Thinspiration

The Resurgence of Thinspiraton

WRITING

Aanchal Dharmani

PHOTOGRAPHY

Hillary Nana-Adjei

MODELING

Sam A-Rahim Alayna Thomas Aanchal Dharmani

DESIGN

Claire Higgins

Society has equated women's bodies with objects .

Apples, hourglasses, rulers, pears. Society has equated women’s bodies with objects, or even worse, food. In addition, the fashion industry has heavily pushed the ideal body image as skinny, slender, and petite, leading women to subconsciously equate style with skinniness. As someone who is in a constant battle against her own body, I think it’s safe to say that “#thinspo” is a silent epidemic. Social media’s hellish and unforgiving nature, combined with the warped online world, has given birth to maligned thinspiration communities that have created a pro–eating disorder culture.

With ubiquitous weight loss content trending on apps like TikTok and Instagram, pro–eating disorder culture is being depicted as shockingly normal. What might seem like a trivial 15-second dance video or a 45-second “what I eat in a day” video inevitably compounds with pro–eating disorder culture. Things like thigh gaps, protruding ribs, the a4 waist, and sinewy arms all point to this question: to what extent does society’s perception of beauty In addition to these up-and-coming online communities, the fashion industry has also glamorized beauty trends and unrealistic body standards. It’s concerning considering so much of our concept of style is based on a petite hourglass is a conventionally skinny woman. Nearly every ad, magazine cover, and billboard for mainstream fashion retailers features a thin and tall model. While it’s perfectly normal to be petite, it is absolutely abnormal that that’s the sole standard for every woman on the face of the Earth. And it’s most considered to be beautiful or worthy.

that’s the convention, that’s the trend, and that’s what’ s considered culturally and socially desirable.

When young women dress themselves, they often aspire to achieve the “ideal” body shape. Girls intentionally pick clothing that accentuates their hips and cinches the waist, thus giving them the the convention, that’s the trend, and that’s what’s considered culturally and socially desirable. The majority of Pinterest fashion inspiration is modeled on slender girls, and the industry is dominated by supermodels like Bella Hadid and Kendall Jenner. Until society and the fashion industry stop telling women that being skinny is the only way to be beautiful, it’s a losing battle.

TikTok and Instagram are simply the new and upgraded homes for thinspiration content. While these platforms have community guidelines intended to prevent the spread of pro–eating disorder content, users on their platform still continue to spread thinspo culture. TikTok, for instance, clearly stated that “content that promotes eating habits that are likely to cause health issues are not allowed on the platform.” However, the sheer volume of thinspiration content proves that these guidelines are either not enough or TikTok is not doing enough to follow through on their commitment to protect the community. Dangerous tips, misguided encouragement, body shaming, and, most importantly, viral trends on the platform are reminiscent of thinspiration communities on older platforms like Tumblr. This site originally provided this epidemic with a global platform, resulting in its phenomenal growth. Users contributed to pro–eating disorder behavior by sharing tips and tricks while also promoting the notion that eating disorders were a lifestyle choice instead of a mental illness. Images of boney legs, ribs, and collar bones were easily accessible to a mass audience. Today, a quick Google search will give you millions of free articles on how to avoid food easily, tips like chewing on ice cubes to reduce your appetite being one of the preposterous suggestions. Billions of women not only view these, but also participate in this culture. And with TikTok videos going viral so easily and quickly, it has only aggravated the situation.

When we step back to consider the constantly changing “ideal body” throughout history, the arbitrary nature of the pro–eating disorder culture decade ago, let alone half a century or more ago. In the Victorian era, carrying extra weight and curves was understood as a sign of beauty, wealth, and health across much of the world. In the ‘50s, movie stars in the U.S. like Marilyn Monroe popularized a curvy hourglass shape. According to the Post, many ads targeted at women encouraged products that would help them gain weight, a concept which might surprise modern readers.

In the late 2000s and early 2010s, the Kardashians played a large role in bringing back the curvy body trend. Many women focused upon becoming “thick,” or gaining curves while maintaining a thin waist. While this trend still perpetuates an unrealistic body standard, it allows room for more body types than the stick-thin model trend. While the curvy body trend is still circulating on social media, we must be careful to mitigate the resurgence of the thinspiration trend. Some social media communities have returned to how it used to be in the late ‘90s and early 2000s, with extremely thin girls wearing low rise jeans and tiny tank tops. It’s the Victoria’s Secret Angels generation. It’s the Paris Hilton, Bella Hadid, Hailey Beiber, and Kendall Jenner generation. It’s almost as if beautiful has become synonymous with looking famished and weak.

Fashion and beauty isn’t about what your body equate to being trendy and stylish. Since it is quite impossible for every woman to look the same way, we need to open our minds and social media pages to women of a range of body types. Every skin, to follow the trends she likes, and to wear

Every woman deserves to feel comfortable in her own skin.