Body image and health are two topics not often touched on over here at IFB. However, all the recent thinspiration controversy has caused Terms of Use and Community Guidelines updates on some of the most popular social sharing sites. Pinterest, Tumblr and Instagram have all recently taken steps to try and ban, eliminate and discourage content that promotes eating disorders and self harm. These outlets have become home to large communities (mainly of women) that support dangerous diet habits and encourage anorexia.
In the fashion world, thin has almost always been in. From models on the runway and in print, to celebrities on the red carpet, many fashion-following women have come to worship and aspire to a certain physique. Aside from whether she’s flat-chested or well-endowed, tall or short, this ideal centers around being thin. With our daily lives becoming ever more saturated with media, these images and ideals have become increasingly present and pretty much impossible to ignore. Even these policy adjustments and efforts on behalf of Pinterest, Tumblr and Instagram have only been mildly effective. A current search for “thinspiration” or “pro-ana” on Pinterest or Tumblr still returns hundreds of images and posts.
Just being women, we struggle with body image enough, am I right? Now factor in being an internet-savvy clothes horse who gobbles up images and content on fashion blogs, Tumblr, Instagram, Pinterest, and all our favorite fashion news sources in addition to television and magazines.
While we don’t think that the fashion blogging community embraces or participates in thinspiration, it certainly feels at times that the bloggers who rise to fame often fall into the same model-esque physical mold that traditional fashion media embraces. The same goes for editors, socialites and fashionalities we admire.
As consumers (and lovers) of these media outlets, we’re very curious about how our community views this topic. We want to open up a discussion on IFB about body image and blogging, content regulation on social sharing platforms, and anything else that comes to mind when you read about these issues.
Do you look to your favorite bloggers for body image inspiration as well as personal style? Have you encountered pro-anorexia or thinspiration content on Tumblr, Pinterest or Instagram? Do you think that ‘real girls’ are under-represented in fashion blogging? Share your comments below!
For further reading on these issues, IFB recommends:
- This article and interview from Forbes
- Pinterest Bans Pro-anorexia content to little effect (Mashable)
- Pinterest’s Acceptable Use Policy
- Tumblr’s Community Guidelines
- Tumblr Takes A Stand Against ‘Self Harm’ Blogs (Mashable)
- Instagram Bans ‘Thinspo’ (Huffington Post)
[Image credit: Found doing a search for 'thinspiration' on Pinterest on 4/25/12.]
It’s so alarming and scary when I come across thinspo images when browsing through Tumblr, Pinterest, and Instagram. Bodies of rail thin girls with text placed over them reading “Nothing feels good as skinny feels” and such. The battle with body image and the media on young girls is a long drawn out one that won’t be stopped until drastic changes are made.
It all has to start with the way the media portrays what beauty is and what standards it puts on women. I would love to see more real average women on the cover of magazines and ads, people whom most of the general public can actually relate to. Even educating people on how much Photoshopping and manipulating of the images we see are done and to remind them that the models we see are supposed to represent this perfect fantasy that is not representative of reality.
It’s a long road we have ahead on the issue of body image but I think it’s about time that real change is set to happen.