My body is not built of twigs
how could twigs carry my soul?
I am not small, or delicate, or light.
My feet do not move with a grace you would recognize
my body is not built of twigs
how could a body of twigs bear children?
My body is covered in a network of scars, and stretchmarks
these scars and stretchmarks are beloved
they tell a story
My body is made of steal
By: Elizabeth Wilde

Rage Against An Anorexic Society
by: Beth

A sinister smile stares at me
from the semi-gloss pages of a magazine.
She proudly declares, "I see my ribs.
That makes me beautiful."

And I believe her, I soak it all in,
the meaningless truth in her words,
Soak it deep into my soul
with countless other persuasions.

So sick of wanting, too tired of wishing
to be skin and bones.
I hate conforming my God-given body
into what society wants to see.

Yet I starve myself instead of my addiction.
I'm addicted to a notion
Of a tall, slender vision I can't be,
My one and only impossible dream.

I want to learn to love myself,
break away from the nothingness I've become.
For who wants one more empty skeleton
when beauty lies within.

©2002 Beth. Reprinted with Permission.

This is an image of Katie Couric that was edited to make her look considerably smaller due to concerns about her waistline. You can read more at http://photoshopnews.com/2006/08/29/katie-couric-beforeafter/.

I am not immune

after days of looking at this stuff I have to say that even when I was looking at these images with a critical eye I was never immune to them. I spent a lot of the time thinking about my own body and wondering how I would measure up. I also noticed some profound things when I took a look at pictures of today's waifish models and sat them next to an image of Kate Winslet who I would consider both beautiful and thin.

This is me trying to atone for all of the super skinny images I propagated by putting them on this blog.

The Ultimate Problem

Really I do not believe that it is the fault of the media that anorexia exists. It is a psychological problem that is caused by a variety of factors. The problem is that for people likely to develop the disorder and those who aren't the media is adding another layer of dissatisfaction, and by portraying unrealistic expectations of the female body it is creating negative self-esteem for so many young women. So in an effort to be part of the positive exchange of images here are a few pictures of those who are healthy and beautiful.

Pro-ana/ Pro-mia

When I accessed these kinds of websites my computer issued me four or five warnings telling me that the information I was about to view was not healthy information and that if I were under 18 I would need parental permission to view it. Great, they sure kept me off there. These websites are incredibly disturbing and judging by the esthetics used by many of them including a picture of a bleeding rose they know that the information they are relaying is both dangerous and disturbing. The problem is that this is part of what makes them so popular, it's all part of this Heroin-sheek motif the fashion industry is so fond of. Hurting oneself to achieve this beauty at any cost. Anorexia and Bulimia have been given personified nicknames Ana, and Mia, as though they are the friends and companions of these girls.