Really upset about #thinspo

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  • kellehbeans
    kellehbeans Posts: 838 Member
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    I actually almost typed fitspo rather than thinspo a few times. And while I think it's a great idea to hang that picture of that woman with a killer 6pack on your door to look at right before you head to the gym, it shouldn't be about comparing yourself to others, or feeling bad that you haven't reached abs yet, but to look at a photo and say "hard work pays off".

    Nope. And these girls think they need to starve their selves to get that 'strong body'. :laugh: Highly misinformed all the time with fitspo too. It's all over Pinterest too. Makes me cringe, fitspo and thinspo as I said before. :(
  • amy1612
    amy1612 Posts: 1,356 Member
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    I actually almost typed fitspo rather than thinspo a few times. And while I think it's a great idea to hang that picture of that woman with a killer 6pack on your door to look at right before you head to the gym, it shouldn't be about comparing yourself to others, or feeling bad that you haven't reached abs yet, but to look at a photo and say "hard work pays off".

    I don't think it even comes down to that. I have very slightly visible upper abs. I train hard, lift heavy and eat very well. I will NEVER be super lean because my goals in terms of strength do not coincide with 'cutting'. Hard work doesn't necessarily get you a six-pack, and there's nothing wrong with that.
  • Pookylou
    Pookylou Posts: 988 Member
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    Exactly this! Fitspo is still body shaming, 'strong is the new skinny' only really seems to apply to you if you ARE still skinny. You don't see any picture of Kristin Rhodes or Sarah Robles on fitspo blogs.

    Ahhh fair point and in relation to strong is the new skinny, I read this and have to agree...

    "The post on Fit & Feminist blog points out that “skinny” and “strong” are actually describing different things so should not be compared at all – “skinny” refers to how one looks, “strong”, however, refers to what one’s body is capable of doing.

    A light bulb moment for me. Strong is not the new skinny. Strong has nothing to do with skinny or not skinny. Strong is what you can DO"

    I've read that blog post, really interesting read. And yeah the "strong is the new sexy" girls I have seen all have the same body types, so (once again) if you don't happen to have that shape you are "wrong". Every body is a beautiful body
  • kmjacobs93
    kmjacobs93 Posts: 46 Member
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    I agree, it's hard for me to wrap my head around having specific muscular goals. I grew up in a house that told me I was beautiful, and I can be as strong and as healthy as I want to be, so I'm sorry that having particular groups of muscles show doesn't seem like a real concept for me. I just like setting my bar higher for physical activities and feeling great.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,248 Member
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    I'm totally on board with healthy living and striving for strength rather than thinness, but I still think fitspo isn't much better than thinspo. Every woman's body is going to end up in a different place when she reaches her body's goal weight. The pics I've seen of fitspo seem like they would give some women a complex because they "don't look like her" if that makes sense.

    ETA: I would like to see them showcase a wider variety of strong women. Then it'd be better, imo.

    This. It's not even so much the bodies that bug me, but that they seem to glorify deprivation and suffering. I'm happy - thrilled, really - with my results, and I've never exercised til I puked and I eat pizza regularly. :laugh:
  • rlmadrid
    rlmadrid Posts: 694 Member
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    It disgusts me. I just googled it. I knew about thinspo, seeing as I am a Tumblr-r. But I never, truly realised how terrible it was until... Well, just then. It makes me upset. Yeah I know I'm not thin, or happy with my body, but this is the type of stuff that is bringing fat shaming to the forefront of everyone's minds. I look at the guy I have a thing for and think 'Why do you like me? I'm fat.' When in reality I weight 164lbs, I'm hardly 'fat' anymore! Where is the humanity in my thoughts? Body shaming starts there, and it needs to end with us. We need to be the people who speak up for ourselves, and our bodies. We are good enough. Eating is right, eating is healthy, eating is survival. Why can't everyone understand that rather than promote the 'Thin is in' stigma that society obeys as of the last twenty years?!

    Quoted so that everyone will see it a second time. You're right, and I'm guilty. At 153 I still try on every outfit in the closet hating my flabby gut... It starts with not body shaming ourselves. We need to be proud of accomplishments when we're trying to change things, not upset about what we haven't achieved yet.
  • elliepearsonn
    elliepearsonn Posts: 31
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    I had so much thinspo on my mac, like 2,000 images and quotes telling me not to eat and that i was fat and I was part of a weight loss group that strived on thinspo. It was a huge part of my life for about 3 years and a few months ago I deleted that whole thing out of my life.

    It made life miserable and I hope to never go back to that.

    MFP, exercising and healthy eating is my saviour.
  • Pookylou
    Pookylou Posts: 988 Member
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    I had so much thinspo on my mac, like 2,000 images and quotes telling me not to eat and that i was fat and I was part of a weight loss group that strived on thinspo. It was a huge part of my life for about 3 years and a few months ago I deleted that whole thing out of my life.

    It made life miserable and I hope to never go back to that.

    MFP, exercising and healthy eating is my saviour.

    Me too, I fell down many a Tumblr hole looking at the thinspo hashtags. Glad you are doing better :flowerforyou:
  • LouMonoLou
    LouMonoLou Posts: 192
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    If you go to tumblr,you will see tons and tons of #thinspo.

    I don't know why this is happening.. Is this just for fashion? It makes me not only upset but sad too.

    I also don't like fitspo because of the attitude. "Hot girls lift weights" "You can either do...or..." "This *shows a picture of a skinny girl with abs* could be you in 3 months" However I like some fitspo posts more than thinspo.

    My only advice is eat healthy and exercise regularly. Exercise always has to be something you enjoy so when you push yourself a little bit more you will get to enjoy it.
  • Meg_78
    Meg_78 Posts: 998 Member
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    Looking at the thinspo and the fitspo image wise (not quote wise), there sadly isn't that much difference between them, just a few more cut muscles in fitspo...and as extreme as I think some of the images are, I can't deny that I don't sit here and think "oh I wish I looked like that" over many of the images.....not all, but enough.....
  • beckyinma
    beckyinma Posts: 1,433 Member
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    those images make me want to vomit, not because I want to be skinny, but it makes me sick that that is 'proper body image' for so many people. Ugh.
  • Jmchao
    Jmchao Posts: 27 Member
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    Dear friends of ours are struggling with trying to find appropriate help for their 14 year old girl who has decided that "Ana" (yes, various eating disorders now have nicknames...and specific colors associated with them so they make/wear certain color bracelets to "support" various eating disorders) is her new best friend. At age 14, she stands at 5'5" and weighs 92 pounds. Her goal is to get that "thigh gap". They noticed there were issues and she sees a counselor regularly, but then the parents happened upon her Instagram account(s) (yes, she has 3 under various names, one devoted to anorexia, one depression/suicide, one to cutting). She's a sick little girl and needs help and support, not websites like this that fill her head with garbage! (Yes, the parents are working with various doctors and groups and counselors and she's in treatment, but she has a long way to go!) They were totally blown away by ALL the information, groups, support, etc. like the thinspo website that she has access to at her fingertips.

    What are we doing to our girls these days? And then that latest disclosure of the Abercrombie & Fitch statement by the CEO about only marketing to "cool kids" and they won't be selling anything over a size 10 (the statement was made several years ago, but finally hit the media full force just recently)!

    Sigh...
  • KarenJanine
    KarenJanine Posts: 3,497 Member
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    What makes it worse is that most of the images are photoshopped to make the girls even skinnier. Therefore te girls aspiring to them and aspiring to something that doesn't even exist in real life. It's so sad.
  • psyche929
    psyche929 Posts: 4
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    Sadly enough, I used to look at this stuff every day. I followed their advice (rubber bands on the wrist to snap when you get hungry, etc), I got sucked into the whole thing.

    I felt terrible about myself. I felt terrible health-wise, I was miserable, and it only fed my depression. I lost a good bit of weight, but in the end, it just didn't last. I got through my depression, gained weight (far too much of it), and developed a different perspective on my life. That's why I'm here now! :)

    I knew that I had to hide what I was doing from my friends and family, although several could- and did- guess and tried to talk me out of it. It took a few years. In the end, my low self-esteem and body image issues are still here, but now I have a messed up metabolism to boot.

    Definitely not worth it, in the least.

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