Lovelyish

I’m not sure how I feel about this. I’m against thinspo and self harming so its good that tumblr is taking a stand against self abuse. But at the same time, it’s not exactly freedom of expression is it?

This will be a good opportunity for a new popular blogging site. It’s quite apparent when blog sites start censoring their users they move. *ahem*

To be honest I do enjoy thinspo but only when it’s tasteful. I do not support eating disorders and was shocked when I did look more into this community but some people who are into thinspo do not promote eating disorders. I simply unsubscribe to someone who posts thinspo if I find that the thinspo they post is filled with girls so skinny that you can see their bones. However most of the images on this post aren’t bad in my eyes except for a few.  

Now I totally support tumblr on this, eating disorders are not okay. People need to learn that. I honestly do not like it when I see thinspo pictures that say “Don’t eat” or “Stop eating” because we all need to eat to survive. I want to lose weight the healthy way but it’s difficult to find great information when all I’m bombarded with is people telling me I need to eat zero things in order to be like that. So kudos to tumblr. 

While I understand why they’re doing it, I have a feeling they are going to lose a HUGE number of users.  The thinspo community on tumblr seems to be very extensive…I don’t have a tumblr account but it’s generally known around the interwebz that it’s home to a lot of eating disorder blogs.  I think it’s censorship and that it does violate their freedom to post what they want, but Tumblr can do that because they own the site.  Those bloggers will just go somewhere else.

While I do not support eating disorders, there is room for everyone to speak freely.  Surely not all thinspo bloggers aspire to be a twig, I’m sure there are some who appreciate being fit.  Oh well, I guess the bloggers will have to just find another place to post.  I did tumbl for a while, but I think I am over it.

They are a privately owned company and have no power to “take away” anyone’s freedom of speech. Even Hitler had trouble pulling that one off. What they can do is make choices about what is and isn’t acceptable on their site. That is reasonable and within their rights. If they want  to forbid self harm posts then that’s their right if they want to forbid posts about green cookies they can do that too. There are plenty of other sites online and if you don’t like tumblr policy you can always show that by closing down your tumblr and going elsewhere.

Freedom of speech goes only so far. We have seen scores of people who off themselves, because people online encourage self-harm. I understand freedom of speech is crucial to people, but why use it to force people to injure themselves?

It’s what psychologists tell us…

Our sessions are confidential, however if we tell them we want to harm ourselves or others, do the experts confide in doctors or the law.

I applaud Tumblr for doing what they are doing.

“Disturbing”? I look like that, does that mean my image is disturbing? I actually work my ass off to look like that, and eat healthy. Not all of us thin girls stick our fingers down our throats. I portion my meals & eat zero junk food, and work out. I am PROUD of my body.

In this case, they should also ban images of obesity. While not as commonly found on tumblr, I’m sure there are some blogs dedicated to it out there. Obesity is just as unhealthy as other eating disorders.

I cut myself for 6 years. The only people I had to talk to about it were online strangers.

“For example, joking that you need to starve yourself after Thanksgiving or that you wanted to kill yourself after a humiliating date is fine, but recommending techniques for self-starvation or self-mutilation is not.”
^that is totally not fine.

@millionofstars@xanga - Exactly! Freedom of speech protects the truth, that doesnt mean you can speak maliciously/say anything without thinking without fear of punishment. I’ve seen thinspo blogs that make me want to throw up…out of disgust. To talk badly about another girl or call someone of a healthy weight “fat” because their bones dont protrude like razors against the skin is sick. That’snot promoting a good body image.

There’s skinny where it’s naturally your frame & skinny from anorexia, bulimia & other eating disorders. THAT should be banned. A legit health blog wouldnt be called thinspo.

My opinion is that Tumblr is a private company and can do what it wants. If these girls want a site badly enough, they will find or create another.

Freedom of speech doesn’t mean that you’re allowed to say whatever you want, whenever and wherever you want. You can be asked to leave a place of business for being disruptive; this is the same thing.

I don’t agree with the concept; I’ve battled an ED myself, but at the same time, I don’t feel like they should censored. This step seems logical, but shit gets carried away and before you know it, you won’t be able to post anything that uses profanity, or anything that alludes to sex, etc. 

Everyone is going to be offended by something, so we just all need to realize that and stop trying to be so damn politically correct. You can respect someone’s belief while still practicing your own. 

I do think Tumblr is a private company and that Freedom of Speech does NOT apply here, but still. 

@SUPletstake___surveys@xanga - Yeah those “thinspo” pics are just real fit girls… Lovelyish is full of skinny girl haters. Maybe only the eighth one is a bit much.

@oledphatnuglee@xanga - Re-read your comment and you said exactly what I originally posted. My bad XD

@MoonFaeEyryan@xanga - Only the 8th one?  I think 3, 4, 8, and 10 are all bad.  Maybe even 7.  #3 doesn’t look like she’s eaten food because it looks like no fat and little muscle, just bone.  Number 4 looks like people who eat only protein and work out too much.  Number 8 is pretty horrible as the before picture was skinny enough… there didn’t need to be weight loss there.  10 is alarming because I think people’s legs are supposed to touch in the middle. 

I’m not a skinny girl hater at all.  I once weighed only 88 pounds at my current height, so I know it isn’t all about any kind of eating disorder.  The other pictures I agree do look more healthy, but even so still a bit skinny for what I think most people’s bodies naturally attain.  Therefore, it is a bit unrealistic that most women would look like that and it seems self-destructive for most women to try to get that skinny.

yay they are coming back to xanga

Warning: The pictures below may be disturbing if you are a fat lard-ass who sits on their ass all day eating junk, not exercising, and telling yourself that those skinny girls ‘aren’t normal/healthy’

So? They’re a privately held company, they can do whatever they want.

Good. They’re a private company and they’re not limiting your right to free speech. You can go to another website…If the government required that all websites require this censorship, then it’s restricting your right to free speech. 

I think it’s disturbing when I run across these tumblers celebrating eating disorders and self-injury. It’s also a trigger for me, but that’s my own issue. (When I say celebrating, I don’t mean the people who know they have a problem and just want to talk about it in order to get help. I mean the ones promoting these behaviors.) I think it’s nice that Tumblr wants to help these people instead of feed into their problems. 

I am against people harming themselves of course but I don’t believe this is the way to go.

I think the pro e.d. movement and blogs about suicide are two edged swords. It depends on where they draw the line. If a site has writtem “pro ana” or “pro suicide” on it’s top, that’s one thing.
The thing is many many things are a matter of interpretation. When eating disordered and depressed people express how they feel this is often triggering for others. Dr. Phil and “what’s eating you” are the most triggering shows ever for that matter.
That’s why I warm my readers before proclaiming that the word will go down and life makes no sense. If I, deeply cynical, write: “we have no chance against the authorithies, it’s better to kill ourselves” am I promoting suicide??? It is not my intention. It is my style of writing. A stylistic device. (Actually deep down I hope someone says I am wrong.) If someone writes down what “Ana” tells them, that can be expressing in a creative way how they feel. Maybe the way that helps the most. That freedom should NOT be taken away from anyone!!

I have often told my own story on Xanga….I came here, because I believed if I really prove my eating disorder by becoming ded skinny everything will be ok. A pretty warped thought obviously, but it’s not what I saw back then. I tried to find pro-ana friends (and did) and to lose weight. That didn’t do me well for while, I admit that.
On the other hand it is the fact that DID express the things that are already “forbidden” to express in real life, because no one understands and all they do is scold you, that made it possible to a.) reflect about it and b.) for people to give me advice I didn’t think of on my own at that time. I read blogs of anorexics trying to lose weight and I started feeling desperate because I was attached to them and didn’t want them to die. All that opened my eyes to NOT pursue this way.
As for pictures, not every picture of a skinny woman was taken with the intention of promoting her figure…thin and fat and scarred and damaged people should all have the right to show themselves.

I believe in freedom of speech because it helps finding the truth and helps finding the best solutions. I mean honestly finding and understanding them. And what I just wrote is a perfect example of it.

Of course sometimes bad things happen, like people getting triggered.
 But instead of forcibly forbidding it and pushing them further into the undergrounds where they make their own sites, we can tell them to stop posting triggering crap. Tell them what effects it has. Stop visiting their sites and encourage others to not visit them either. Post pictures of beautiful and healthy people. Write something about how wonderful life is.

The photos don’t bother me at all.  Tumbler’s policy seems a little odd at first glance, with the exception of the issue of minor reading or contribution to the site (they don’t ask for age as far as I know, though). 

But a second’s worth of consideration and you realize they are between a rock and a hard place: we live in  world were every business has to worry about being sued. And, let’s face it, creating a platform where millions of people can read about how to go thinspo or off oneself would seem to be a fairly risky business, particularly given the success of Tumbler.   
So, yeah, if you want to start a thinspo blog that glorifies the skeletal look or promotes eating 40 calories a day, go start your own website.  The startup costs are like UM… ZERO!    

Wish Xanga would follow suit. 

@WaitingToShrug@xanga - I love how your comments on these type of posts (so-and-so company did something not illegal! OMG!) are pretty much exactly the same. Makes me happy. ♥

Let the anorexic bitches find another site. Tumblr is for the gays anyway.

         Shrug, and a few others have said it sufficiently. This is a private company, and freedom of speech in this case belongs to them. Your ability to say what you want to say doesn’t include a responsibility for a company to post it on their servers.

And as for the comment in the article that Tumblr is all one person has to reach out, if she’s reaching out for help, she’s not going to be in violation of these terms.

Also, someone should tell her about Xanga.

The amount of people actually trying to RECOVER from eating disorders and self-injury addictions on tumblr is growing quickly (and I know because I am a part of that community). I wonder if people against tumblr’s decision have seen the type of blogs/sites they are really aiming to ban. It’s one thing to use your blog to document your struggles, and its another to hold weight loss contests or post millions of pictures of bloody cuts. This post also doesn’t mention that they plan on posting PSAs on the tracked tags for “thinspo”, “thinspiration”, etc, with helpline numbers.

@RazielV@xanga - No problem, I’m really easy going bout stuff n stuff

So how long until they start censoring other things too? I guess I better not reblog any pictures of thin looking women! And my friend had better watch out, next thing his blog will get shut down for the gore, self mutilation, body modification and morbid subject matter he is fascinated by. Sheesh. I love that tumblr is a place to go and for me its like a big collection of things that I like. If things start getting censored, fuck a whole lot of that. >_<

Interesting, I’ve never been into Thinspos and whatnot, but I do have friends who are and the emotional and mental state they’re in is quite delicate. Sometimes it’s a good idea for them to express themselves to online strangers since they probably don’t do that with their own families or people who are closest to them. But at the same time it’s a bad idea because those same online strangers could encourage them to continue with their cult of self-harm. Overall, this is quite the delicate matter to consider.

Tumblr can do whatever they want, they’re the ones that created their blogging community therefore they have the right to establish limits. But that doesn’t guarantee that the users will stop looking for or creating thinspos. They can just as easily move to some other site and just start another one. This is an internet epidemic that’s been going on for longer than we think, therefore, it’s difficult to contain something that can spread so easily regardless of any limitations.

These users call their ED “Willpower” and I often wonder if they could use that same willpower to actually stop harming themselves. What to do in this situation? Just keep encouraging healthy habits and maybe somehow or somewhere, one of them can become inspired to do so as well. There’s not that much we can do on the internet to help them, we can’t cybernetically slap them silly and say “STOP DOING THIS TO YOURSELF!” …as much as we would want to do that, it’s not possible.

@babybug329@xanga - I’ve battled with an eating disorder, and I still am though I’m at a healthy weight now, and I have to agree with you.  Its their right to start a “thinspo” blog if they want too.  And to address your  ”Surely not all thinspo bloggers aspire to be a twig” comment there are many many many who do but a fair amount who are more into fitness but they’re called… fitspo?  I believe someone correct me if I’m wrong and they do some very good things.  I’m worried if they’ll suffer the same fate by being shoved into the same category as the blogs that promote eating disorders. 

So… these pictures aren’t really disturbing at all. 

The main reason I don’t like it is being people she be able to say and post whatever they want.
It’s the internet ! 

@WaitingToShrug@xanga - Agreed. Tumblr is a private company and it will do as it pleases. Either follow its new rules or go somewhere else.

People need to stop stating their opinions on whether or not blogs talking about eating disorders and self-injury are good or bad. That’s not the point here.

I wonder how long this will last? I follow plenty of tumblr blogs that post those pictures, but they don’t promote eating disorders or necessarily have anything to do with weight loss. So are they going to block those users? How do you draw the line with pictures saying whether they’re “dangerous” or not?

@armoredsuperhero@xanga - It is a horrible situation that often people are grouped together because of lack of better terms.  While some people are similar compared to others, each person is an individual and vary at least a tiny bit.  I think it is unfair to judge people based on one common factor.  Keep up the good work on keeping yourself healthy.  I have not dealt with eating disorders personally, but from what I’ve learned, it is not easy to overcome.  I know it is not just as simple as, “Eat something!”

I wasn’t particularly happy about the new policy change. I look at thinspo but always skip the gross kinds. I really enjoy tumblr because of how visual it is. So it seems very fitting to have thinspo shown that way. I was a little upset that it seems to target the ed community and not really the cutting community. It is mentioned briefly then brushed aside.

All in all, I understand that they don’t want to indorse eating disorders, but they are still going to exist. There are tons here on xanga and have been for years. 

None of these photos are offensive. 

Most of these girls in the pictures here seem pretty healthy with the exception of a few. I’ve seen some thinspo blogs that are all pro-ana / bulimia quotes plus girls bodies with bones protruding from their skin.

Hmm.. I wonder if all the people who advocating against ‘thinspo’ bloggers to have the right to blog the way they do..would they also advocate if the blogs were for bullying? Or other self-harmful things, like cutting? I am glad tumblr has finally stepped up & done something about this. I can only hope they also crack down on any other self-harming tumblr blogging being done.

I’m glad Tumblir is trying to take away the enablers. If it helps one person get better, then it’s worth it.

As for these pictures, those women are not disgustingly thin. I mean, I wouldn’t want to be that skinny, but there’s worse pictures on Xanga.

@SUPletstake___surveys@xanga -
Did you even read what it said? “Online dialogue about these acts and conditions is incredibly important;
this prohibition is intended to reach only those blogs that cross the
line into active promotion or glorification.” It’s not going to ban posts and blogs simply because they mention these topics, and it’s promoting talking about, helping, supporting and being safe.
However, blogs and posts that promote this lifestyle, making it look cool and glamourous and giving tips? They’re unnecisary and should be taken down. I understand that people come up with these ideas on their own, but maybe less people would if there weren’t hoards of websites.