Lovelyish

“Just remember, no one has the perfect body. We all have issues about our
bodies and ourselves that we wish we could change. Learn to embrace
everything about yourself so you can show the world just how beautiful
you are!”

The day Lovelyish stops writing posts about who has the best makeup/dress, who fits better in what dress, and who is fat/not fat is the day I’ll believe a word of this.

This is really sad. I know that a lot of young girls/teenagers do from Tumblr. It’s also shocking the amount that are suicidal and think about killing themselves. I never had these thoughts when I was a little girl

Lovelyish is a blog dedicated to beauty,
fashion and pop culture so the day we stop writing about all of that is
the day that this blog no longer exists. And I mean every word I write. 

this breaks my heart

We can’t keep putting a sole blame on Hollywood for why girls are like this.  Yes, there are celebs who are small in size, but also celebs who aren’t! 
xo’

@preskinny@xanga - great comment! Have any ideas of where the pressure could be stemming from?

@leanna - Well, I know as a teen myself, you have friends who are insecure about their bodies, even though they’re beautiful anyway.  So there has been that competitive factor between teenage girls in school, whether it be the popular girl, or your friends who are smaller in size than you.  And added to that, parents (mine are like this) might be putting on additional pressure for one to be a certain shape/size. 

Mind you, this is all from my own personal experience regarding this topic, so everyone might not agree!
xo’

@preskinny@xanga - I concur; peer pressure and parental upbringing are huge factors regarding self-image.

@leanna - showing dedication to beauty, fashion and pop culture is not the issue. It’s the method in which it is demonstrated… that, my dear, is the issue. But don’t worry, if the tabloids and entertainment industry can’t figure it out after all this time, I doubt lovelyish will either. ^_^

This is not surprising.

I wasn’t insecure when I was younger because of hollywood media, but the very people around me, such as some classmates and family criticizing me.

This makes me want to cry. I had an eating disorder blossoming by age 8, it really took off at 13. The first time I made myself vomit was when I was 14, but it was short lived until college…now I’m trapped between recovery and probably death. I know that eating disorders are not solely anythings fault: not the media, not bullying, not genetics, but it’s all of the above. I want to make it my mission in life to help girls realize that they don’t need to engage in these horrible, unhealthy acts because they want to be perfect or look like the girls in magazines. Everyone is beautiful–I believe it with my whole heart. Hopefully people will take notice of this growing epidemic and do something about it. Awareness and activism are key.

This does surprise me. I started making myself throw up at the age of 10. It wasn’t an every day thing, but when you are bullied and teased every hour of every day, you get desperate. Today’s society is absolutely cruel. I don’t give a shit if fat acceptance is “promoting unhealthy habits”, eating disorders are not healthy either. And they really mess you up mentally. This really breaks my heart, because I’ve been there, and it’s a dark place to be at such a young age.

I’m fourteen. Most of the girls in my grade (I’m in eighth) are still thirteen. And eating disorders are ALIVE and WELL.

Lots of girls don’t eat at school, or when they get home. Theres a few little cliques who comment obsessively on how ‘fat’ they are, when they’re clearly stick-thin and probably weigh 45kgs. I am actually a bit underweight myself (40kg, I’m 5″2) and have been accused of being anorexic and bulimic on countless occasions.

I think more girls suffer from anorexia than bulimia. Anorexia is when the girl (Or boy) thinks they’re overweight even if they’re dangerously thin. Their eyes will play tricks on them and they see themselves as fat. Anorexics don’t eat. Period. When they do eat, they purge to get rid of the food as quickly as possible.

Bulimics see themselves as overweight as well and try to starve themselves, but usually feel guilty after and binge, resulting in feeling horribly fat– that’s when they throw up.

Anorexics usually weigh 15% less than they should (It gets more extreme as the excessive starving continues) while bulimics usually weigh 10% less then they should which makes Bulimia harder to pick.

Anorexia is, I think, more common at my school than Bulimia. I see girls purposely starve themselves to lose weight… although maybe because the media really plays on Anorexia, we don’t notice Bulimia as easily.

I don’t find this study as outrageous as maybe the older generation etc because I am SURROUNDED by this every day. Personally, I’d rather have a curvy hourglass figure than a stick-thin body with my ribs poking through my skin and my hip bones jutting out… plus Anorexia and Bulimia can cause major health problems like tooth decay, weakness in bones and organs and infertility… but how can young girls help it when they are constantly being drilled with size zero models (And when plus sized models are normal women??)… it’s disgusting. Mehh… what is the world coming to ._.

@QuantumStorm@xanga - That is true. I’ve even had family members (fatter than me) say I was fat. The irony is there I suppose.

OP:
Honestly, when I was growing up, I never really worried about my weight or my appearance. I don’t remember all of this buzz now about it. It seems like everyone is obsessed with it, it’s a shame. It’s trying to make people achieve perfection when perfection does not exist. You have the option of becoming a better healthier you, but wanting to become perfect is ludicrous. Just accept who you are even with the flaws and maybe turn those flaws into strengths? Always try to improve yourself…;) 

@RococoBow - i remember when i was in eighth grade. i never ate lunch or anything. so i believe you lol

It’s sad but it’s the world we’re living in right now. Everyone has gotten so superficial it’s impossible NOT to judge yourself from time to time. Even when you’re 10! Children are growing up way too fast. It’s not just because it’s all over Hollywood but because it’s right there, in their own homes. Do you know how many mothers spend insane amounts of time dieting and exercising excessively to try and “stay thin and young”? I’ve seen it, too much of it. Do you know how common infidelity has become? When your parents get divorced because your father left your mother for a NEW, IMPROVED women? Or when your mother finds a YOUNG, STRONG man to shack up with instead of your father? These are only three, somewhat specific, situations and there are so many others.

@RococoBow - I understand you’re young, but you should realize that you’re seeing things in extreme black and white terms. Having an eating disorder does not automatically mean having anorexia or bulimia, there is also “EDNOS” which is a sort of catch-all for eating disordered behavior. For someone who is a diagnosed anorexic then your facts about being below a normal weight by 15% is true, however, this is rare. Most eating disordered people never reach the emaciated weight that is oh-so popularized in the media, which causes people to think only those who are thin have eating disorders. It’s possible to have a variety of symptoms. I displayed various behaviors associated with anorexia when my ed was at it’s worst, but I was never technically “underweight” and therefore couldn’t earn the anorexic diagnosis.

Also, bulimia is harder to spot because throwing up food doesn’t guarantee weight loss (neither does skipping meals, at least indefinitely. As starving continues your metabolism slows to a crawl and your body holds onto anything it can in terms of nutrition. No matter how little you eat you’ll likely gain weight eventually). Many people with bulimia are of a normal weight or even overweight. I don’t know where you got the 10% below body weight for bulimia…

People need to stop putting those with ed’s in a box, and I’m not just directing this at you but you made a comment that demonstrates this. When eating disorders are concerned, education is key! People forget that they can’t rely on what is the “popular” belief about something, especially a physical and psychological condition so serious.

It’s not Hollywood’s fault. I had a bad body image when I was younger, but it stemmed from the girls in the class who were walking magazine covers even with no makeup. 

i think it’s friends and family more than media honestly. i’ve had problems with eating disorders and body image since about 5th or 6th grade. i always felt like the fat one of my friends and was even told by one of them to suck in my stomach so my crush would like me more. looking back i wasn’t even CLOSE to fat, but i got boobs earlier and was taller than all the other stick thin girls so i felt like that. top that with relatives [especially control freak male relatives] that called me chubby or made fun of me for eating, a mother that also was anorexic , and a perfectionist\\anxiety personality of my own + desire to control anything i could when everything in life seemed so chaotic and uncertain… yeah celebrities really didn’t have much to do with it at all, and that was a good 13 years ago.

it’s still a struggle, and i don’t want to blame any specific thing. there are alot of factors that contribute to eating disorders, and i’m not saying that the media isn’t a factor, just that i don’t think it’s always the main one.
it is really sad that young girls feel such a pressure to be thin and will go to extremes like this, but i don’t feel like it’s something new.  that said, i do think it’s a good thing that we are hearing about this kind of thing now, that people are talking about it and making a big deal about it, because it IS a big deal. it’s not being kept a secret anymore. 

@leanna - yes. value. family. friends. from within the girl herself. some girls are natural perfectionists, who may or may not be obsessive…and when they are continually told by those who matter most that they are not good enough, those girls will try to MAKE themselves good enough. i wanted to be the “est” of something…the prettiest, the skinniest, the best (at), the smallest, the tallest….but i was ignored by my desired audience (the crowd my family forced me to hang around), and the attention i did get told me that i was not good enough as i was. for me, the eating disorder that was fullblown by the time i was 12 (no idea when it started) was caused by several things, but not at all by the media. i was homschooled and we had no tv, magazines and the internet were not allowed, even the RADIO was monitored. i was not given a healthy outlet for my perfectionism. i had no influence over what happened to me, or how i spent my time. i didn’t even know what anorexia was. it wasn’t popular then.

the causes i can list from my own experience are: lack of value from your loved ones, perfectionist parents and self, a mind that has to be challenged and isn’t in a healthy way, smaller friends being praised while self being overlooked, abuse from others, and the insane desire to abuse self. it IS insane, but so much worthlessness caused(causes) me to believe that i should deny myself, i had to do SOMETHING right and i did nothing right, so i didn’t deserve health, i wanted positive attention that sick people get…reasons upon reasons, but none from the media. the root cause is value. a child has to be taught that he/she is of great value in their own right, not because of anything they do, but because of who they are.

this article doesn’t suprise me, but it makes me very, very sad. it took me YEARS to break out of the cycle….in fact i still battle it, and always will, because i will not damage my children with that selfish, lifewrecking disorder. i was taught that who i am is Not Good Enough. i won’t obsess and end up teaching my children the same things.

This truly depresses me…