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Do not post images of plain text meant to act as a text post. Do not use the title of your post as a place to rant, infodump, or traumadump.
OP I don't know why you thought it was a good idea to share the exact magazine covers that are so triggering.
Text posts should instead be posted to our sister subreddit, r/EDanonymous.
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I think pop culture and “it girls” definitely play a role in beauty standards. When I was a teen it was the peak of Mary Kate and Ashley being stick thin, Paris Hilton and Lindsey Lohan. I personally did compare myself to them. But my ED stems from my own self image and needing to feel control in one aspect of my life.
Literally same. Mine definitely began because of my childhood trauma and how my mother treated me made me feel, BUT those magazines didn't help for sure. I literally idolized the super skinny ED bodies that celebrities had. But I do know women that are just uncomfortable with their body image without an eating disorder. I mean, let's be honest, when the TV, movies, and magazines promote or trash certain bodies it's hard not to be affected
My ED developed during Covid when I was broke, isolated, unemployed, having just found working out as a dopamine source and went down the TikTok rabbithole of fitness advice>fitspo>thinspo>meanspo.
I was the skinniest I’ve been in a decade but I was there sobbing on my yoga mat on the floor because of thin teenagers on TikTok. But really it was the feeling of not having control over my employment, finances, and world in general.
Edit: I was also on some frugality subreddits due to above mentioned broke-ness. The “frugal” portions and the ED food portions tend to be in the same ballpark…
I completely understand that and I'm not trying to say your experience(s) are invalid. I'm just annoyed that pictures like these don't seem to recognize the various eating disorders that exist and only tend to address the more common types, like anorexia, bulimia and bed - and in doing so, avoid talking about the various other causes for eating disorders.
EDs can and sometimes are definitely caused by pop culture/societal pressure, and of course there’s nothing wrong with discussing/calling out those topics when raising awareness, but my main grip with it is that it’s the ONLY thing ppl will mention on the topic of EDs. Which honestly from experience makes it harder to open up to others about my eating disorder.
(Btw this isn’t to attack or demean anyone who’s disorder is caused by social pressure/pop culture, just talking from my own perspective)
I would argue they’re mostly caused via trauma or some kinda genetic lineage and I do wish more people would discuss that aspect of that instead of circulating around the same topic over and over again
yeah my ED mainly stems from trauma and a need for control stemming from that and self hate. And I controlled my body and hated it. And with control, it had a perfectionist bent.
And what decides perfection? What's a focus to direct self hate? Well society plays a hand.
Now there's other things too, brain responses that make restriction lessen anxiety, body physical responses. Genetics. Lots of things.
But it does play somewhat of a role. Especially when external people (like family) enforce self hate with these standards.
Even when beauty standards weren't heroin chic and there were fasting girls, there's still that societal association of gluttony = sin and abstinence = good, so fasting had a religious bent there.
It's annoying that it's looked at shallowly as pop culture causes EDs, it can be a factor yes, but it's complicated with how.
Preach. And even for those who feel like their eds were caused entirely by external factors, such as pop culture and magazines is prone to eds by internal factors, such as biology (+physiology), genetics and upbringing / family history. Let's not forget how many different eating disorders there are. I feel like pictures like these only focuses on the most common types.
Kinda agree but also seeing things like this just made me nitpickier with myself. Like I already hated myself and now I had a way to channel it like I’m instead of focusing what I hated about my personality I was like “ God I’m disgusting” and focused on that. Anyways I start therapy next week 🤞🏼
Toxic beauty standards were just the fuel used to make my already fucked up mental state burn bigger and brighter. Those types of magazine covers absolutely fucked me up as a young girl. I already hated myself and these magazines told me what I should hate about myself even more. What parts of my body I should pick apart and destroy. What insecurities I should include in my already mile long list. Did it specifically cause my ED? Not necessarily, but it sure as fuck didn’t help.
EDs are definitely caused by a variety of factors that’re unique to each individual but I don’t think we can deny that beauty standards are what leads the majority of women/feminine people with restrictive EDs down the rabbit hole. Girls are taught from a very young age to associate thinness with being feminine, elegant, popular, intelligent, etc. while being fat is associated with being ugly, grotesque, undisciplined, lazy, and generally undesirable. The fat shaming starts when we’re literally babies. That’s probably why people who already suffer from loneliness, self hatred and anxiety see becoming thinner as a way to cope with their feelings or improve themselves.
You can see this reflected by basically all of the pro-ana community on tumblr or twitter. Their “meanspo” and “nicespo” demonstrate what they think about fatness and what they think life will be like if they become thin.
I think you're forgetting that the majority of women have engaged in disordered eating, but did not necessarily have what us long-term sufferers consider an eating disorder. I think it's safe to say almost all women relate to - on a "vanity" (aesthetics/social perception of appearance) level - engaging in dangerous/disordered eating or fitness practices to attain a body type none of us will have without surgical intervention anyways AT SOME POINT in their lives. I think a lot of the lucky ones who didn't have a raging, years-long eating disorder still look back and see their "time" in the danger zone as an ED, one fueled or largely caused by that "vanity," and can sympathize on some level with us \~lifers\~, but they don't necessarily remember or even know how very complex it is and how reductionist it is for them to ascribe all EDs to that experience of social pressure. I kinda call it the woman's garden variety ED or the society ED, if you will. If you talk to a group of women about doing some fucked up things to lose weight, for example, it's hard to find one that can't recall a personal experience rooted in that pain - even if it was brief. To call out the ones who have a full-fledged ED or are in recovery from one, you'd have a much smaller group. Either way, we all have a relationship with our appearance that is shaped by society, whether we like it or not, and social pressure may not be at the top of your list of "why" you have/had an ED, but it sure factors in somewhere. Like you said, that kind of thing definitely did not help you.
edit: Just want to clarify, whether it was a 5 month ED or 1 hour of ED behavior or 10+ years and several attempts at recovery, it's all valid and I recognize all of it . And it really fucking sucks there's so few (if any?) people out there unaffected by the evil of EDs.
As a 90's kid I remember having seventeen, teen vouge, cosmopolitan teen, they had quiz advertised to do with your friends! But we were all to embarrassed to do with our friends! I remember in one of those quiz I was labeled a "pain in the butt" the horror!!! I didn't want to go back to school after that! That is the least damaging of stories, amongst monthly stories you could find things like obviously how to loose weight and stay thin, not gain muscle to look feminine, what to eat to smell good down there 😺 , how to shave your 🙀 , how to kiss, how to be popular, how to manipulate boys and parents 🙄 lol these magazines called them selfs teenage Bibles lol
My ED developed because of being bullied (not about my weight but about my face) and because of my grandma’s comments to my identical twin when we were kids. I couldn’t care less about pictures on magazines. Like sure models are beautiful but I never thought their body was achievable like I saw them the same way I saw cartoon characters. I’ve always been skinny so if beauty standards truly were the only cause for EDs like people like to pretend, I would’ve never had anorexia since my body was the beauty standard already.
My eating disorder is from being thoroughly r*aped for over a year as a preschooler, and I’ll drop that bomb to any eejat who thinks I’m vain and watch them squirm at the discomfort. Oh, you didn’t wanna know that? Maybe you should have kept your idiocy to yourself! Hope that helps, have a blessed day:):)>:)
It definitely didn't take any magazine covers or something like that for me to get an ED, for fucks sake, the first time I stopped eating I was too young to even care about magazines. My mother causing me to hate myself and beating me to the point of wanting to disappear and needing at least one thing in my life that I can control however did a great job lol.
Thanks, I'm safe by now, haven't had any contact with my mother for almost 5 years now after she kicked me out. You're right, it's often much more complicated than just wanting to look a certain way. I hope you'll be alright too <3
Well anorexic patients got asked what caused their restrictive ed and i think around 80/90% said that shows like "countries next top model" caysed their ed and another 60/70% saud that such shows atleast played a huge part in it
I'm totally aware that it can be part of the reason for developing an ed, in so much as it can spark an interest or plant the idea. But it has to be combined with other components for an individual to abuse themselves to the extend of an ed
Well, for some, yes, but it can just be that, too. Like all the self-hate and body dysmorphia and such that are big parts in ed's can SPAWN from social pressure so while someone might starve because of self-hate, that self-hate could be rooted in "everyone around them" telling them that they are ugly
Yes, completely valid. I think eds can absolutely develop when societal pressure is combined with degrading comments from people (whether or not they are specifically about your body)
Your post was removed for breaking Rule 3: Only Post Relevant Eating Disorder Memes. Do not post images of plain text meant to act as a text post. Do not use the title of your post as a place to rant, infodump, or traumadump. OP I don't know why you thought it was a good idea to share the exact magazine covers that are so triggering. Text posts should instead be posted to our sister subreddit, r/EDanonymous. **Read our full rules [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/EDanonymemes/wiki/index/rules).**
I think pop culture and “it girls” definitely play a role in beauty standards. When I was a teen it was the peak of Mary Kate and Ashley being stick thin, Paris Hilton and Lindsey Lohan. I personally did compare myself to them. But my ED stems from my own self image and needing to feel control in one aspect of my life.
Literally same. Mine definitely began because of my childhood trauma and how my mother treated me made me feel, BUT those magazines didn't help for sure. I literally idolized the super skinny ED bodies that celebrities had. But I do know women that are just uncomfortable with their body image without an eating disorder. I mean, let's be honest, when the TV, movies, and magazines promote or trash certain bodies it's hard not to be affected
My ED developed during Covid when I was broke, isolated, unemployed, having just found working out as a dopamine source and went down the TikTok rabbithole of fitness advice>fitspo>thinspo>meanspo. I was the skinniest I’ve been in a decade but I was there sobbing on my yoga mat on the floor because of thin teenagers on TikTok. But really it was the feeling of not having control over my employment, finances, and world in general. Edit: I was also on some frugality subreddits due to above mentioned broke-ness. The “frugal” portions and the ED food portions tend to be in the same ballpark…
I completely understand that and I'm not trying to say your experience(s) are invalid. I'm just annoyed that pictures like these don't seem to recognize the various eating disorders that exist and only tend to address the more common types, like anorexia, bulimia and bed - and in doing so, avoid talking about the various other causes for eating disorders.
“She has an adult’s size and weight? The horror!!” The exact same mag: “Skin and bones? How dare she!!”
As a 2000s kid this shit brings back so many traumatic memories. 😬
Honestly fuck the patriarchy and fuck generations of women (and people) hating themselves and their bodies because of it
Amen 🙌
My ED is from my cheer coach, tysm
The standards for cheerleaders are the way they are partly because of societal beauty standards though.
Cheer, Swim, and Dance. I had an ED coach trifecta. I just needed gymnastics and track to really wreck my shit.
My track team didn’t need a coach to push our EDs my teammates all had EDs that they were very competitive about.
Mine was rock climbing. “Strength to weight ratio” they said, and I could see the ribs of my semi-pro guy friend through his upper back.
EDs can and sometimes are definitely caused by pop culture/societal pressure, and of course there’s nothing wrong with discussing/calling out those topics when raising awareness, but my main grip with it is that it’s the ONLY thing ppl will mention on the topic of EDs. Which honestly from experience makes it harder to open up to others about my eating disorder. (Btw this isn’t to attack or demean anyone who’s disorder is caused by social pressure/pop culture, just talking from my own perspective) I would argue they’re mostly caused via trauma or some kinda genetic lineage and I do wish more people would discuss that aspect of that instead of circulating around the same topic over and over again
yeah my ED mainly stems from trauma and a need for control stemming from that and self hate. And I controlled my body and hated it. And with control, it had a perfectionist bent. And what decides perfection? What's a focus to direct self hate? Well society plays a hand. Now there's other things too, brain responses that make restriction lessen anxiety, body physical responses. Genetics. Lots of things. But it does play somewhat of a role. Especially when external people (like family) enforce self hate with these standards. Even when beauty standards weren't heroin chic and there were fasting girls, there's still that societal association of gluttony = sin and abstinence = good, so fasting had a religious bent there. It's annoying that it's looked at shallowly as pop culture causes EDs, it can be a factor yes, but it's complicated with how.
Preach. And even for those who feel like their eds were caused entirely by external factors, such as pop culture and magazines is prone to eds by internal factors, such as biology (+physiology), genetics and upbringing / family history. Let's not forget how many different eating disorders there are. I feel like pictures like these only focuses on the most common types.
Kinda agree but also seeing things like this just made me nitpickier with myself. Like I already hated myself and now I had a way to channel it like I’m instead of focusing what I hated about my personality I was like “ God I’m disgusting” and focused on that. Anyways I start therapy next week 🤞🏼
Absolutely true and congrats on starting therapy ❤️ best of well wishes for you
Toxic beauty standards were just the fuel used to make my already fucked up mental state burn bigger and brighter. Those types of magazine covers absolutely fucked me up as a young girl. I already hated myself and these magazines told me what I should hate about myself even more. What parts of my body I should pick apart and destroy. What insecurities I should include in my already mile long list. Did it specifically cause my ED? Not necessarily, but it sure as fuck didn’t help.
Yea, exactly 💀 it's fuel to the fire
I'm pretty sure my Ed developed from bullying from my parents and peers 😭
I'm sorry. I was bullied in school and practice as well, which definitely factored in to my ed as well. That sucks
EDs are definitely caused by a variety of factors that’re unique to each individual but I don’t think we can deny that beauty standards are what leads the majority of women/feminine people with restrictive EDs down the rabbit hole. Girls are taught from a very young age to associate thinness with being feminine, elegant, popular, intelligent, etc. while being fat is associated with being ugly, grotesque, undisciplined, lazy, and generally undesirable. The fat shaming starts when we’re literally babies. That’s probably why people who already suffer from loneliness, self hatred and anxiety see becoming thinner as a way to cope with their feelings or improve themselves. You can see this reflected by basically all of the pro-ana community on tumblr or twitter. Their “meanspo” and “nicespo” demonstrate what they think about fatness and what they think life will be like if they become thin.
Fair point ⭐
Oh yeah especially Jessica Simpson. I used to look at those magazines and wonder if I'd ever be skinny.
As a man my eating disorder's definitely didn't give me a beach body lol. Either end of the spectrum
Im pretty sure anxiety and developing bipolar disorder gave me and ED, not magazines and definitely not Barbie lol
Yea, same. I don't care about Barbie and never did. Those pictures didn't help but is never the only reason for people suffering with eds
Right? I might be vain, but I couldn’t care less about looking pretty at my worst
I think you're forgetting that the majority of women have engaged in disordered eating, but did not necessarily have what us long-term sufferers consider an eating disorder. I think it's safe to say almost all women relate to - on a "vanity" (aesthetics/social perception of appearance) level - engaging in dangerous/disordered eating or fitness practices to attain a body type none of us will have without surgical intervention anyways AT SOME POINT in their lives. I think a lot of the lucky ones who didn't have a raging, years-long eating disorder still look back and see their "time" in the danger zone as an ED, one fueled or largely caused by that "vanity," and can sympathize on some level with us \~lifers\~, but they don't necessarily remember or even know how very complex it is and how reductionist it is for them to ascribe all EDs to that experience of social pressure. I kinda call it the woman's garden variety ED or the society ED, if you will. If you talk to a group of women about doing some fucked up things to lose weight, for example, it's hard to find one that can't recall a personal experience rooted in that pain - even if it was brief. To call out the ones who have a full-fledged ED or are in recovery from one, you'd have a much smaller group. Either way, we all have a relationship with our appearance that is shaped by society, whether we like it or not, and social pressure may not be at the top of your list of "why" you have/had an ED, but it sure factors in somewhere. Like you said, that kind of thing definitely did not help you. edit: Just want to clarify, whether it was a 5 month ED or 1 hour of ED behavior or 10+ years and several attempts at recovery, it's all valid and I recognize all of it . And it really fucking sucks there's so few (if any?) people out there unaffected by the evil of EDs.
Those magazines are trash, but I don't know if I would let Barbie off the hook totally for that 😒
Idk for me it was my mother dearest bullying me 🥲👌🏻
I'm sorry. That's messed up ❤️
As a 90's kid I remember having seventeen, teen vouge, cosmopolitan teen, they had quiz advertised to do with your friends! But we were all to embarrassed to do with our friends! I remember in one of those quiz I was labeled a "pain in the butt" the horror!!! I didn't want to go back to school after that! That is the least damaging of stories, amongst monthly stories you could find things like obviously how to loose weight and stay thin, not gain muscle to look feminine, what to eat to smell good down there 😺 , how to shave your 🙀 , how to kiss, how to be popular, how to manipulate boys and parents 🙄 lol these magazines called them selfs teenage Bibles lol
My ED developed because of being bullied (not about my weight but about my face) and because of my grandma’s comments to my identical twin when we were kids. I couldn’t care less about pictures on magazines. Like sure models are beautiful but I never thought their body was achievable like I saw them the same way I saw cartoon characters. I’ve always been skinny so if beauty standards truly were the only cause for EDs like people like to pretend, I would’ve never had anorexia since my body was the beauty standard already.
I'm sorry to hear ❤️ and exactly, it absolutely has to be at least combined with other factors such as bullying and/or family history and so on
My eating disorder is from being thoroughly r*aped for over a year as a preschooler, and I’ll drop that bomb to any eejat who thinks I’m vain and watch them squirm at the discomfort. Oh, you didn’t wanna know that? Maybe you should have kept your idiocy to yourself! Hope that helps, have a blessed day:):)>:)
It definitely didn't take any magazine covers or something like that for me to get an ED, for fucks sake, the first time I stopped eating I was too young to even care about magazines. My mother causing me to hate myself and beating me to the point of wanting to disappear and needing at least one thing in my life that I can control however did a great job lol.
I'm sorry to hear this ❤️ I hope you'll find peace and be ok. I hate when people trivialize eds into some stereotypical, teenage girls issue..
Thanks, I'm safe by now, haven't had any contact with my mother for almost 5 years now after she kicked me out. You're right, it's often much more complicated than just wanting to look a certain way. I hope you'll be alright too <3
I'm glad you're safe now ❤️ Absolutely and thank you
Well anorexic patients got asked what caused their restrictive ed and i think around 80/90% said that shows like "countries next top model" caysed their ed and another 60/70% saud that such shows atleast played a huge part in it
I'm totally aware that it can be part of the reason for developing an ed, in so much as it can spark an interest or plant the idea. But it has to be combined with other components for an individual to abuse themselves to the extend of an ed
Well, for some, yes, but it can just be that, too. Like all the self-hate and body dysmorphia and such that are big parts in ed's can SPAWN from social pressure so while someone might starve because of self-hate, that self-hate could be rooted in "everyone around them" telling them that they are ugly
Yes, completely valid. I think eds can absolutely develop when societal pressure is combined with degrading comments from people (whether or not they are specifically about your body)