I received a troubling new “comment” on my article about pro-anorexia blogs. In the article, I mentioned, among others, a blog called Skinny Gossip.
Here is what the commenter (Lisa) had to say:
Skinnygossip isn’t a pro ana site, it’s a pro skinny site. The owner of SkinnyGossip doesn’t encourage mental illness and there is a support group for girls who suffered from eating disorders on the Skinnygossip forums. Some of the “starving tips” may seem dumb but they don’t encourage you to harm yourself in any way, the term is just used to get more attention. SkinnyGossip is more about fashion and models then it is about losing weight.
Really? I thought to myself, taking another look at the site. And yes, Skinny Gossip was just as I remembered. It’s the classic case study of a pro-ana blog and demonstrates all the insidious ways such sites operate.
Pro-anorexia (pro-ana), pro-bulimia (pro-mia), and pro-eating disorder (pro-ed) blogs are “how to” guides encouraging and promoting eating disorders. I’m going to refer to them jointly as pro-ana blogs. According to the National Eating Disorders Association’s (NEDA’s) Media Guidelines For Responsible Coverage of Pro-Anorexia/Pro-Bulimia/Thinspiration:
Pro-ana/pro-mia/thinspo refers to web content that intentionally encourage or glorify dangerous behaviors characteristic of those who struggle with the eating disorders Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa, which can be life-threatening.
The National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD) notes:
On these sites, users are instructed and motivated to lose weight to be part of an “elite,” though hazardous, online community. Some initially appear friendly and benign. However, they can pose a serious threat to some individuals, not simply because they promote eating disorder behaviors, but because they build a sense of community that is unhealthy. They lure the impressionable and persuade them that the Pro-Ana community is providing caring and nurturing advice.
That’s perhaps the most dangerous part. These websites aren’t necessarily going to come out and say I’m going to teach how to have an eating disorder, even though it’s bad for you. Some are overt, unapologetic and defend the “lifestyle.” Others, however, are more subtle and sinister. According to ANAD:
It’s also increasingly more difficult to detect Pro-Ana sites. Many are disguised as positive sites where people help each other lose weight together. They come together under the banner of “thinspiration,”dispensing tips and tricks to lose weight. Some begin innocently enough but quickly descend into full-fledged Pro-Ana. In June 2010, researchers from Johns Hopkins studied the content of 180 sites they discovered while searching for terms like “Pro-Anorexia” and “thin and support.” 83% of the sites they viewed contained suggestions for engaging in eating disorder behaviors. A minority provided information on recovery, but also encouraged eating disorder behaviors. Contradicting information like this may influence innocent and impressionable site users, like children, adolescents and those who already feel isolated.
ANAD provides a list of the key characteristics of pro-ana blogs. Let’s take a look at some of these and see how Skinny Gossip measures up:
Glamorize/idolize images of emaciated or very thin individuals
Skinny Gossip is all about using “thinspiration” (a key pro-ana buzzword) to motivate its readers. You can see examples here, here and here. It also encourages readers to publish thinspiration they find on their own in their forums.
Commenter Lisa says “SkinnyGossip is more about fashion and models then it is about losing weight.” The website itself debunks this notion, telling readers to pretend to concerned family and friends that thinspiration isn’t what it appears to be in its bluntly named “Starving Tip 82“:
Have photos of your favorite models in beautiful, editorial shots on your bedroom wall. Then when people ask, it’s not thinspiration, it’s your interest in fashion photography and the surrounding arts.
And Skinny Gossip drives home the point in more of its “Starving Tips” that these pictures are to motivate readers to get as thin as possible:
Thinspo is your best friend. You think you’ve lost weight? Check out some fashion models or skinny celebrities online and you’ll realize that you can probably do better.
Thinspiration is key to skinny success. Keep a thinspiration notebook and thinspo pictures everywhere you can. Keep a little picture in your purse for a constant reminder. Also, keep one right behind your credit card so that you are reinforced each time that you buy something, especially food.
Encourage and teach dangerous eating disorder behaviors
Commenter Lisa says that Skinny Gossip’s “starving tips” are “dumb but harmless.” But here are just a few of the harmful things Skinny Gossip advocates:
- Hide your eating habits. Having to hide your eating habits is an immediate red flag. Skinny Gossip not only tells readers to be “careful who they tell” but suggests doing things like cutting up your food and moving it around your plate to make people think you’ve eaten it (Starving Tip 26) and pretending you have an ulcer to get out of eating (Starving Tip 87). It also recommends leaving empty food bags around to convince family and friends you’re eating more than you are. Skinny Gossip has a bag of tricks on how to mislead those who care about you.
- Avoid Eating. According to Skinny Gossip “if you must eat, ONLY eat when people are watching you. All other calories are eaten in vain.” (Starving Tip 3) It also recommends water, cough drops, and Chia seeds (yes, like from the illustrious Chia Pets) in lieu of food. Skinny Girl also suggests that one embrace stomach hunger pains here.
- Have an intense fear of weight gain. Skinny Gossip does this by shaming celebrities who have gained weight and making fun of “fat” women. Readers will then fear becoming like these objects of ridicule and do everything in their power to avoid that. See this article snarking on a supposed weight gain of Barbara Palvin, this one comparing Christina Aguilera to Miss Piggy and this one negatively commenting on Kristen Bell’s eating/food choices.
- Compulsive Exercise. This sums Skinny Gossip’s approach to exercise best:
Take every chance you can to exercise and burn calories. Fidget whenever your are [sic] sitting down, wiggle your foot, tap/clap your hands, play with your pen. Clench your butt muscles, or go up and down on your toes while waiting to cross the roads etc. Stand up whenever you can. Pace up and down while you wait for the bus/train. Take stairs not the elevator and go up them two at a time. If you walk to work/school/the bus stop etc leave later than you need to so you’ll have to rush (which makes your heart beat faster and burns cals). Try to do a walk that takes 20 mins in 10 etc. Every time you go to the bath room do 5 – 10 star jumps or push ups against the door – and drink lots of water so you’ll have to go often NEVER sit still.
Attempt to mask toxicity by being exclusive and elite
Shrouded in secrecy, the author/moderator of Skinny Gossip operates in complete anonymity. She hides, acknowledging that what she is doing is “controversial” (a euphemism if I’ve ever heard one). The site has public forums, private forums, and even an elite and exclusive “Gurl’s Club”:
Now, a little info on the “Gurls Club” which is for my favorite gurls only. You know who you are – you’ve been supporting me forever on this blog. Commenting, keeping it real, reminding me when I’m slacking, etc. So I have created this Club for my besties, and you’ll have special karmic powers, access to secret areas, public recognition of your superior status, and – you’ll hopefully get lots of inside gossip. Why inside gossip? Because it’s going to include a lot of girls who work in the business (models, actresses, others in fashion & entertainment) and who I know frequent the site. (In fact, I’ve reached out to some of you personally already.) So anyway, send me a private message on the forum for further info – because some of you are shoo-ins!
In February 2012, NEDA announced that it was working together with Tumblr both to flag these sites and “to create language for directing individuals (who are using key search terms associated with these sites) to resources and help.” You can read Tumblr’s policy against self-harm blogs here. Hopefully this initiative will make strides in both eliminating some of these sites and getting help to people who need it. It’s a tough fight though. These sites keeping popping everywhere, are hard to police and contain, and are incredibly harmful.
So, Lisa, I’m sorry to say that Skinny Gossip isn’t deserving of your loyal defense. I didn’t see any “support group” for women with eating disorders on the site, which would utterly contradict the rest of its content. Instead, the site promotes eating disorders. Skinny Gossip’s author may claim otherwise, but I call bullshit.
I’m a recovered anorexic/bulimic and I see how triggering this site’s content can be. This post isn’t meant as a criticism of you or any of Skinny Gossip’s readers. Instead, I recommend that you take a critical look at the site, educate yourself, and seek out helpful resources for you and any of the women you know on the site. NEDA and ANAD have great resources.
I want nothing but to see all women happy and healthy. Lisa, I urge you to take care of yourself, and wish you all the best.
Wow, the excerpts from that site are troubling. It’s one thing to provide support for someone who is trying to lose weight in a healthy way, but it’s quite another to instruct them in the finer points of surreptitiously starving themselves to death. Heartbreaking.
Wicked post. What we need is positivity and inspiration for wellness. Thanks for raising awareness. Recovery is possible and life is delicious.
A.
http://www.wildheartcity.wordpress.com
I note that you chose to only quote the most inflammatory posts you could find and disregarded any posts that would negatively affect the shock value of your article. That being said, I understand the intention behind what you wrote and am grateful that you were at least polite in your writing.
I respectfully disagree with you as a member of this site, I have found it enjoyable to browse through as I am a self-admitted catty girl who judges others – like I’m the only one. I find that most of the site is devoted to discussing models and celebrities but there is also a weight loss component. In that regard, there is a lot of emphasis on health in the forums which I suspect you would have run across if you had ventured in. I have never suffered from an eating disorder (or any other mental illness), nor do I suspect I will develop one due to this site.
I’m not naive enough to think that I could change anyone’s mind on the subject, but I think a fair and balanced perspective is important.
For every quote I mentioned, there were many more like it that were just as “inflammatory.” And rather than being catty and judging others, I believe women should support and build each other up, instead of tearing each other down. I believe in respecting other women, which is why I was polite about it, as you yourself acknowledged. Woman come in all shapes and sizes and mocking/insulting women because they don’t represent your personal aesthetic is plain offensive and wrong. Further, Skinny Gossip’s focus is weight loss/being as skinny as possible, with little regard to health. Skinny doesn’t equal healthy. Even the content I saw about celebrities and models was focused primarily on being skinny. And, like I wrote in my post, pro-ana sites are trying to get craftier in their approach to avoid being defined as such due to the (rightful) backlash against them. Which is why education and recognizing these sites for what they are is important—hence, the motivation of my post. I believe my post was respectful, fair, and balanced, and I stand by it 100%.
I am a reader of SG and although the line that SG walks between pro ana and pro skinny is very thin it is still a very defined line. The starving tips are not meant to be taken so extremely. They are there to offer an individual inspiration and a little help hence why they are called “tips”. They are not meant to be followed to a T. They are not like the rules set out on pro ana sites which are referred to as commandments and are avidly followed. If you understand the true nature of this site you will realise that it is not pro ana and that it is actually very supportive and fun. It is not meant to be taken so seriously. It is there to provide those interested in the fashion world with gossip about models and tips on how to be skinny, since skinny is a requirement in that industry.
There are thousands of sites all over the net which are clearly pro ana and very poisonous like the Red Bracelet Project and Prettythin yet you never see poeple trying to take them down or destroy their credibility even though they are clearly more harmful. No instead bloggers like you waste your time writing long articles on SG. You extract quotes from the site and forums which are totally out of context making SG seem awful.
I admit it is not everyones sort of thing. It can be catty but some people want that entertainment. People want to be able to speak thier minds without being judged and if you don’t like that then you don’t have to look or participate. People will always insult and attack eachother. Don’t act like your on some moral high ground. You may not say hurtful things about people but you think it. Everyone does. It is human nature. We will always judge and insult others its horrible but thats life so if some choose to express these opinions over the internet then so be it.
Whilst I respect your article I definitely don’t think it is fair or balanced. Your article is clearly bias as you express a distaste for the ideals that SG supports. You don’t even accept the idea that what the site supports is “controversial”
“She hides, acknowledging that what she is doing is “controversial” (a euphemism if I’ve ever heard one”
Therfore you already have the idea that it is pro ana so how is your article fair?
I visited the site, and trying to be “fair”, spent too much time reading the forums. I found the overall tone mean-spirited and hateful, not supportive or fun. Calling other women cows, pigs, saying that they look like cheap prostitutes – not my idea of fun. One commenter saying that she was “better” than another commenter because she was thinner? That’s not supportive. I don’t know about your world or life, but in my world, people try not to insult or attack each other, and to viciously tear into a total stranger based solely on their looks would be considered immature at the least. Of course, your life is clearly different. This is fun and entertainment for you. Perhaps if the readers of SG realized that what you put into your mind is as important as what you put into your body, they would focus on themselves, and not get so busy calling other women names.
It’s not logical for you to expect Cristina to be “fair or balanced” when you support a website that is not fair, or balanced, or positive in any way.
I don’t understand why girls are trying to defend that women and what she does. That website and forum is very “pro-ana” in disguise. And the owner even works in the fashion industry!! since WHEN have people in the fashion industry ever been a go to guide for healthy body images or health tips? Their whole goal is promoting a standard of beauty that is unachievable for most human beings. That’s what they do. period. And this site seems to be very good at what it does,and it’s messages seem to be pretty clear. If you show images of models or celebrities who are NOT over-weight or unhealthy in the slightest,and call them fat,pigs,unhealthy etc,then you are setting your target audience up for body dysmorphic ideals.
If you’re a 12 year old kid reading that stuff (and you know they are there) How is their brain supposed to process such a message?
“Oh Kristen Stewart is fat? wow I must be a COW then! *goes to starving tip of the day*” They have pretty much blurred the lines between what is healthy and what is over-weight and that can be damaging. It’s that same old message that the entertainment and fashion industry have been pumping out for DECADES. Only now they’re trying to be more clever about it.
“oh,we just believe that skinny is more beautiful! we aren’t promoting or advertising anorexic behaviors,we are here to promote healthy life styles! now here are some tips on how to starve yourself” LOLWAT?
And It’s very ironic that the images they choose to show of “skinny” women are 9/10 models who are emaciated and unhealthy looking. I don’t know when it became normal for this sickly looking ideal of beauty to be pumped out to the masses as normal,but it has obviously stuck with people. We’ve come to a time in our culture where everyday people can not tell the difference between over-weight and HEALTHY weight. You girls need to face it,your body needs fat to survive. I know you find it repulsive but that’s just what it DOES so that it can continue functioning properly. And having a little jiggle under your arm is not going to send you in the hospital for gastric bypass. People need to stop “fat shaming” and letting the “fashion” industry dictate how our bodies should look. I see you,skinny gossip owner,and you aren’t fooling me one bit.
They seem to be a bunch of catty bullies on that website, and hypocrites to boot. They whine about people degrading them because they’re skinny (telling them things like “eat a sandwich”) yet they don’t seem to recognize the bile they spew? puh-leaze, grow up girls…
Among the disgusting things written on that blog I found a particularly disturbing “signature quote”: Fat people’s feelings can never be hurt, because the only true feeling they have is hunger. -”Serene”
It’s so sad that women can be so incredibly mean & vile to each other.
First of all Cristina, I wanted to thank you for your wonderful and even handed assessment of Skinny Gossip by using facts and sources to qualify your statements, and counter their claims of not being pro-ana. The Kate Upton media furor surrounding Skinny Gossip as of late has resulted in a great deal of vitriol directed their way, which is only providing their community with an elevated sense of righteousness. While their website is hate mongering, misogynistic, and destructive, the threats and insults have resulted in them developing a victim complex, and complaining that their right to free speech has been impugned. It’s an insult to individuals who’ve actually had to suffer as a result of living in a police state, and who have been threatened with death and imprisonment for expressing their views (aka TRUE suppression of free speech). Some of the threats and insults directed their way are disgusting and unacceptable, and I believe people should voice their criticisms towards them in a respectable manner.
I like to make my own decisions rather than believe what the media tells me and headed to the Skinny Gossip to do my own research. The comments about Kate Upton are only the tip of the iceberg. I found posts and discussions on that site far more hurtful, destructive, and alarming than anything I read regarding the Kate Upton takedown, which in itself was frightening- such anger directed towards a successful woman barely out of her teens, who dares to love herself and be confident! Posters SIGNATURES include comments how the only feelings fat people have is hunger. Any criticism directed their way is also written off as “fatties jealous of them”, or the mythical oppression of a “fascist society with a pro fat agenda”. I wondered if the cruel quotes taken from Skinny Gossip by the media were perhaps cherry picked for dramatic effect, and was shocked to see that if anything they were par for the course. While their site isn’t entirely comprised of pro-ana content, and includes posters who are supportive towards other women, as far as I could see, the nasty comments outweighed any constructive elements the site may possess.
Skinny Gossip’s claims of trying to curb obesity and conspicuous consumerism for the good of humanity also ring false. They justify their destructiveness towards other women and criticism of slim celebrities who are a healthy weight (i.e. the Ali Larter article) as a reaction to themselves being ridiculed for being thin is similarly glib. We live in an image obsessed society that celebrates being slim and beautiful, and for them to infer that they suffer any sort of real oppression or harassment is further insult. I’m a visible minority who has been physically attacked and harassed due to the colour of my skin. I would never, ever endorse or justify the ridiculing of other ethnicities because of the trauma I’ve suffered, and wouldn’t mind if the only thing I was ever criticized for was being too thin. For the record, I have been accused of having an eating disorder a number of times due to my physique (I’ve experienced severe anxiety bouts in the past that’s caused my metabolism to spike) and never suffered any lingering emotional damage as a result. I had far worse things to be concerned about! I have to wonder if it’s because my weight isn’t something I overly prioritize. Perhaps though if I did suffer from an eating disorder, or was abnormally preoccupied with my appearance and maintaining a skinny aesthetic, comments about my physique would cut far deeper, and could result in psychological damage or me lashing out at others. It’s definitely not acceptable for anyone to criticize others’ appearances but it shouldn’t be perceived as similar to other forms of oppression, or used to justify cattiness.
Also, while I don’t claim to be a saint, I certainly try not to endorse bullying and name calling other women. We have a rough enough time of it in the real world and should be supporting one another as opposed to tearing each other down. I should mention that I have said things in my younger years that have been construed as offensive and destructive, and when taken to task for it adopted a similar victim pose as Skinny Gossip posters. Partly due to defiance at being told what to do, but also embarrassment because in my heart I knew that what I was doing was wrong. The women on Skinny Gossip seem comparatively young- teens and early 20′s, and I don’t doubt that as they grow older, and realize that there’s more in life than maintaining their appearance, they’ll comprehend just how hateful and destructive their views really are.
I’m embarrassed to note that I’m presently at a healthy weight (anxiety is in remission), in excellent physical health, and surrounded by people who encourage me to be healthy and happy as opposed to modelesque. And yet despite how horrified and appalled I was reading Skinny Gossip, the hate and vitriol towards anyone who doesn’t embody a modelesque aesthetic was enough to make me feel self conscious about my appearance. Even with all the positive influences in my life.
Skinny Gossip is dangerous and destructive. I don’t want these women silenced because it will give them martyr complexes, but hope that they’ll come to understand the gravity of what they’re endorsing and supporting one day.
MY. SENTIMENTS. EXACTLY. As a matter of fact, I wrote about this very same thing on their page on Facebook.
As a matter of fact, I posted elsewhere how their entire base is pretty much akin to any extremist group on the planet. I’m actually kind of afraid that this has given them the fuel to amp up their notoriety.
I went to the SkinnyGossip facebook page and wrote on a thread, poking holes in their reasoning from various angles. A lot of my points were never answered, which was very telling. My last few posts were copy-and-pastes from the site itself. Me among several other dissenters were banned. Our comments were deleted. And yet the owner complained about being hacked by “anti-censorship hacktivists”. What a bunch of hypocritical hooey
Reblogged this on Laments & Observations and commented:
I try not to get too wrapped up in stuff like this but this particularly hit home for me.
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Very sad. Maybe the financial crisis is not so big after all. Let’s try finding an Ethiopian blog of the same format and with the same purpose… Sad is really all I can say. What use is it to anyone anyway to have others become sick? I mean, where do people get the motives for spending time and money to build forums like this. Alone the fact that there are buzzwords for this like as if it was an industry is super scary.