Lately, I’ve been feeling slightly disgusted by some of the things I’ve see on picture sharing websites like Tumblr and Wehearit. These images pop up in my feed and they have tons and tons of reblogs, hearts, and likes. And worse yet, comments like: “I want to be this skinny.” and “I wish I was this beautiful..”. This isn’t anything new and I’m completely aware of that. But- I’ve never seen an example quite as disturbing as this:
(click them to see them full size)
Am I the only one who thinks this is insane? That is not a real person. That is a completely altered photograph- obviously. And I don’t care if it’s supposed to be some sort of art, or what. For someone to say that they wish they were as skinny as the person in that picture is absolutely terrifying to me. Maybe I’m taking it too seriously, but I just think- how can anyone feel good about themselves when they perceive this to be what “perfect” is? To post a picture of someone who is “skinny” and obviously toned/fit/healthy – that’s fine! To admire a photoshopped skeleton girl with legs longer than humanly possible? Not fine.
I know that there is not much to be done about stuff like this- it’s the internet. But I think it should inspire us to be more conscious about the way we feel about ourselves, and the way we talk about our own appearances in front of the younger girls in our lives. What are your thoughts on this?
That is disgusting! And weird. I agree with you, modern society's views on "healthy" and "beautiful" are severely skewed. It's up to bloggers like us to hopefully help change that for the future.
I HATE things/people like that too! It's crazy.
The first thing I thought when I saw that picture was that it was clearly photoshopped. And why would someone want to look they that? The body isn't even remotely proportionate!
The first thing that popped into my head when I saw this photo was that it was disgusting, regardless if it was photoshopped or not. Being this skinny is just downright unattractive. I feel bad for the girl who said she wished she was that skinny.
I also agree with Steffani, the body is totally disproportionate. This is not beauty. Granted the photoshopper did a beautiful job with his (or her) photo from an artistic standpoint, but this is not beautiful.
I don't know why society feels that this is the way a woman should look.
Absolutely not alone in these thoughts! I completely agree. I don't understand why (young?) women think this is beautiful! This is not what men like.
Perfection is not worrying yourself to death about what body parts are too big or too small. Perfection is being in love with yourself and not caring a lick if you have stretchmarks or a ripe, round bottom.
It saddens and disgusts me to see comments on photos like that which are about how lovely and wonderful this cinnamon stick of a girl is.
I remember a few years ago, on a different blog, I waged major war against blogs like that, because as horrible as it is that that person thinks that way and feels tat way, it's WORSE that them posting stuff like that makes other people feel bad about themselves, and can be a trigger for people who actually have eating disorders. It's not just sad for one person, it's spreading a horrible mindset for other people.
I am lucky to be generally content with myself even though I'm not perfect, as well as living a largely healthy lifestyle. But I have several people close to me who do suffer from this and it makes me so sad.
Thanks for posting this though, the past day or two, I have been really hard on myself and reading this reminded me to be good to myself.
it's a very creepy photo.
Well said steph.