As parents, sisters, friends, teachers, and the role model's of today's youth, it is our job to protect young kids from the dangers of the world. & I truly believe this epidemic is a serious problem and should be addressed immediately. When clicking on the sites is asked me if I was 18 or older to continue, is this enough protection? And should girls about the age of 18 be exposed to this either? What's to keep a 13 year old from clicking yes anyways? The United States should follow Europe in the ban of Thinspirational.
I have a very close friend who was struggling with an eating disorder, and still is today. This is not something that goes away over night or even in a few weeks or months. These feelings and thoughts will most likely live on with her through out her life and she must overcome them to succeed. It truly takes so much time and effort to overcome such a horrible disease and one cannot do it with out the help and support of their family and friends. In most cases, women also need to help of a professional. There are facilities where women can check into and live on site until both them and the doctor feel that they are ready to join society again and will succeed on their own. What my friend went through was beyond exhausting and emotionally draining. Not to mention, embarrassing. Today, she can walk around with a smile knowing that she is better, but always making sure to never slip back into her old ways.
Due to this false image that America has of what is beautiful, many celebrities develop these disorders as well, striving to be "perfect." BUT WHAT IS PERFECT? Is photoshoping images truly a good idea? Creating a false image of what is real? Not only is this putting a huge amount of stress on celebirites to be thin and perfect, it is creating and unrealistic and unachievable goal for our youth. It is a lose, lose situation. If magazines, movies, and tv shows began using "average" women and stopped editing what was truly there, I believe we would see a dramatic decrease in eating disorders in both the general public and Hollywood. These standards we have set are just beyond unrealistic and it is truly impacting today's youth. These websites just go to prove how far some teens will go to lose the weight and be "perfect"
Mischa Barton - The Ultimate Thinspiration
The above video is a slide show of Mischa's career in Hollywood and how her weight significantly decreases. The first comment states " how does she stay so frigging thin? ... god i'm so jelous i wanna be a size 0 too :( " How sad is it that a girl feels this way? The average girl in our society today is a size 6 ! And at size 6, a girl can be truly beautiful! We must put an end to this epidemic and save the youth of America
