Thinspiration.

The Internet is often looked at to be a great tool, something which makes our lives a little easier and somewhat better because we have a world of information at our finger tips. But what we sometimes overlook is what some of that information actually is. Within our daily lives we may come across groups of people that hold views we feel are wrong. Extremes such as people who have no tolerance of homosexuality and people who support the acts of terrorism; or the more common sexist work colleagues or the classroom bully. Either way within England the majority of the country holds similar views, and within our society these extremists and bullies may find it hard to express their thoughts and spread their views. However anyone can find a way to say what they like on the Internet. As a regular teenage social network site user I was surprised at what I found on some teenagers Tumblr blogs. One thing that holds a strong presence on this site is 'Thinspiration' and 'Pro-ana' blogs.
Pro-ana is the promotion of anorexia and Pro-mia is the promotion of bulimia (this holds less of a presence). Ana and Mia are sometimes thought of as a girl, these 'girls' are the viewers role models and friends, offering them advice. 'Thinspiration' sites often show photos of thin women, these are seen as inspiration and the driving force to help the viewer loose weight. There is also reverse thinspiration which shows fatty foods or obese women, these are there to disgust the viewer and therefore inspire them. These sites also give tips and quotes. I found it shocking just how easy these sites are to find and the content that they hold :

1. Keep your hair in good condition so no one will suspect anything.
2. Say you are going to eat at a friend's house and instead go for a walk. You will be burning calories instead of taking them in.
3. If you start to feel hungry do sit-ups or punch yourself in the stomach. You will not feel hungry anymore.
4. Make yourself a snack, but instead of eating it throw it away. Leave the dirty dishes where your parents can find them. They will think you ate.
5. Take anti-heartburn pills if you're really hungry. They neutralize the acid that builds and makes you hungry.

My idea was to display these unhealthy messages within public areas. Simply taking a canvas and painting the sentence on, then finding a busy public area where I can quickly leave it. This was to draw attention to the shocking message. Or perhaps taking a Thinspiration photograph and applying the message. Surely if these images and messages were brought to the publics attention they would react, possibly removing the item; yet a lot of us know that these sites exist and we do nothing to remove them.
However after talking to my tutor I raised the issue that it could be seen as promoting thinspiration as the message would not be clear, he agreed and said that because the subject matter was so strong it could take away from the work itself.