People's "Most Beautiful" Features Gabourey Sidibe

People Magazine's annual "100 Most Beautiful People" hits news stands every May. This Year, Gabourey Sidibe, star of 2009's blockbuster "Precious"about an overweight, abused illiterate girl living in the Projects and trying to start a new life, makes it. Sidibe is not the average beauty: she is not a size 0 and not tall or lightskinned. Critics, like shlock jock Howard Stern, have argued that her weight is unhealthy and shouldn't be a role model. However, this is a huge step in the right direction because she is beautiful. People have to realize that a small waist doesn't always mean beauty.

Interviewed at a Harper's Bazaar photoshoot:

“I feel like a model. It justifies everyone in my life who told me I wouldn’t be anything until I lost weight. It justifies that little girl who cried because she didn’t think she could be in front of the camera. And it’s for other girls who feel like they can’t do this or that and feel like they’re not pretty and not worthy of having their photo taken.”

and later on:

“People always ask me, ‘You have so much confidence. Where did that come from?’ It came from me. One day I decided that I was beautiful, and so I carried out my life as if I was a beautiful girl. I wear colors that I really like, I wear makeup that makes me feel pretty, and it really helps. It doesn’t have anything to do with how the world perceives you. What matters is what you see.”

Other beauties that are included in the 100 are: Kim Kardashian, Beyonce, Kerry Washington and Rihanna to name a few.

- Kevin Kiyoto

"At age thirteen, 53% of American girls are 'unhappy with their bodies.' This grows to 78% by the time girls reach seventeen."


This - although I'd love to believe it's false - is even more real than imaginable.  I'm an avid user of Tumblr, and every single day, my Dashboard is covered in photos of stick thin women and girls, and even the few self-proclaimed 'happy' anorexic girls, none of whom are over the age of 15.
At an age so young, children shouldn't feel the need to let their body image be controlled by the media, but with peer pressure and the fear of judgement by their friends, it becomes almost impossible to set that out of their minds.  We need to work and encourage our younger generation to not fret over their bodies, to be healthy and happy, and not depressed every time they look in the mirror.  There are bigger issues out their then trying to be a corrupt community's ideal of 'perfect'.




"Your body isn't disgusting; society is."






-Kait Fial

Is somebody you know in need of help?

Help a friend...

If you have read the symptoms below and a friend or family member comes to mind, it’s highly possible that this person has an eating disorder. But where do you go from here? You’re probably worried and realize all the difficulties that this person faces, but the good news is that you can help them.

First things first, talk to your friend, let’s call him Bob (this name is used as example only and is not meant to relate to any person whom you may know named Bob). You should talk to Bob about the symptoms you’ve noticed, and don’t act in an accusatory way. Show concern for Bob without getting frustrated or angry. Since Bob is already unstable, you don’t want to alarm him by making him think his friend is mad at him.

Secondly, after gently confronting Bob, find out if he is willing to seek help. Bob may have been too afraid to seek help, but now with your support he may feel more comfortable to. Try to go and see a medical expert or counselor with Bob, as they may be more knowledgeable on the subject than both of you.

However, if Bob refuses to seek help, you must turn to an authoritative figure that will get him the help that he needs. Speak to your parents, a guidance counselor, or somebody since these illnesses are very dangerous.

Thirdly, besides finding help for Bob and being the good friend that you are read up on the matter. Do the research necessary so that you can support him.

Also, to be the best supportive friend that you can be – follow these tips:

·         Try not to talk of food, weight, diets, or body shape about anybody.

·         Take notice of Bob’s eating habits, food amounts, and choices.

·         Avoid statements along the lines of "If you'd just eat (or stop working out so much), you'll get better."

·         Compliment Bob on his strengths : smile, attitude, personality, great abilities…focus on the positive

·         Avoid the topic of Bob’s physical appearance.

*Lastly, and most importantly, actually so importantly that I’m going to give this step a star: Remind Bob that you are there for him no matter what and all you want to see is him healthy and safe. And if you tell Bob that you will be there for him, be there for him. Your help matters.

Find treatments/excercises/research/help at:  http://www.something-fishy.org/treatmentfinder/ .
erica mirra

SYMPTOMS OF COMMON DISORDERS RELATED TO BODY IMAGE

You could have friends living like this..

Anorexia/Bulimia :

1. Dramatic weight loss in a relatively short period of time.
2. Wearing big or baggy clothes or dressing in layers to hide body shape and/or weight loss.
3. Obsession with weight and complaining of weight problems (even if "average" weight or thin).
4. Obsession with calories and fat content of foods.
5. Obsession with continuous exercise.
6. Frequent trips to the bathroom immediately following meals (sometimes accompanied with water running in the bathroom for a long period of time to hide the sound of vomiting).
7. Visible food restriction and self-starvation.
8. Visible bingeing and/or purging.
9. Use or hiding use of diet pills, laxatives, ipecac syrup (can cause immediate death!) or enemas.
10. Isolation. Fear of eating around and with others.
11. Unusual Food rituals such as shifting the food around on the plate to look eaten; cutting food into tiny pieces; making sure the fork avoids contact with the lips (using teeth to scrap food off the fork or spoon); chewing food and spitting it out, but not swallowing; dropping food into napkin on lap to later throw away.
12. Hiding food in strange places (closets, cabinets, suitcases, under the bed) to avoid eating (Anorexia) or to eat at a later time (Bulimia).
13. Flushing uneaten food down the toilet (can cause sewage problems).
14. Vague or secretive eating patterns.
15. Keeping a "food diary" or lists that consists of food and/or behaviors (ie., purging, restricting, calories consumed, exercise, etc.)
16. Pre-occupied thoughts of food, weight and cooking.
17. Visiting websites that promote unhealthy ways to lose weight.
18. Reading books about weight loss and eating disorders.
19. Self-defeating statements after food consumption.
20. Hair loss. Pale or "grey" appearance to the skin.
21. Dizziness and headaches.
22. Frequent soar throats and/or swollen glands.
23. Low self-esteem. Feeling worthless. Often putting themselves down and complaining of being "too stupid" or "too fat" and saying they don't matter. Need for acceptance and approval from others.
24. Complaints of often feeling cold.
25. Low blood pressure.
26. Loss of menstrual cycle.
27. Constipation or incontinence.
28. Bruised or calluses knuckles; bloodshot or bleeding in the eyes; light bruising under the eyes and on the cheeks.
29. Perfectionistic personality.
30. Loss of sexual desire or promiscuous relations.
31. Mood swings. Depression. Fatigue.
32. Insomnia. Poor sleeping habits

Compulsive Overeating/Binge Eating Disorder :

1. Fear of not being able to control eating, and while eating, not being able to stop.
2. Isolation. Fear of eating around and with others.
3. Chronic dieting on a variety of popular diet plans.
4. Holding the belief that life will be better if they can lose weight.
5. Hiding food in strange places (closets, cabinets, suitcases, under the bed) to eat at a later time.
6. Vague or secretive eating patterns.
7. Self-defeating statements after food consumption.
8. Blames failure in social and professional community on weight.
9. Holding the belief that food is their only friend.
10. Frequently out of breath after relatively light activities.
11. Excessive sweating and shortness of breath.
12. High blood pressure and/or cholesterol.
13. Leg and joint pain.
14. Weight gain.
15. Decreased mobility due to weight gain.
16. Loss of sexual desire or promiscuous relations.
17. Mood swings. Depression. Fatigue.
18. Insomnia. Poor Sleeping Habits.

http://www.something-fishy.org/isf/signssymptoms.php

erica mirra

Body Peace

In the popular teenage girls magazine, Seventeen, they write about girls and how they should be at peace with their bodies instead of thinking that they are never good enough. It encourages girls to look into the mirror and to say "I'm beautiful." Many celebrities such as, Whitney Port, Katy Perry, and Hilary Duff have all signed the treaty saying they will no longer criticize every part of their bodies.


If you want to sign the treaty saying you are at peace with your body here's how:
http://www.seventeen.com/health/tips/body-peace-pledge

-Michele Casper

"Manorexia"

              So thru this whole project of looking at eating disorders that women have, such as Bulimia
 and anorexia, I haven't really thought about the other side.  So this post is all about the other side 
of the puzzle to anorexia, that other side being MEN.Having read a few articles online they have stated 
that eating disorders just don't just affect women they also affect men.Manorexia, or also Manorexic, 
was defined by researchers, when they discovered that anorexia was just not limited to women,

and the idea of starving yourself, with the intention of getting the "perfect body" started to cross the 
lines between gender, and men started to become anorexic. This can either start in high school, or 
even start earlier, or later in life. 

            All it takes is a few ingredients: a bowl of low self esteem, two tablespoons of excessive media
 telling you what you need to look like, a dash of others people opinion, bake for 2 months and you have 
yourself an eating disorder. It seems that man are in the same boat as women, and that no matter what 
the quest for the perfect body is a dangerous quest. Anyways what is perfect mean anyways, does it mean 
looking like you could be snapped in two. I think not.

I Wont Eat

I made this ad yesterday. This seems to be a very impactful ad I made in my opinion. I like it because it seems really personal. Using the fact, 8 million people in the US have eating disorders gave the true fact of how serious this disease is, also saying And I just became number 8,000,001 showed the personal side of how anyone can develop a eating disorder. There is no need to feel ugly, you need to feel beautiful in your body.

Nathan Pirir

Size 0 is so overrated

Many ads now days and the media in general depict the average woman to be a size in the single digits when actually this is not average size for anyone. Stepping aside from genetics, most females actually have some type of curves to them. But that's not what everyone wants them to think. "Tall, skinny and long hair" is what the typical female should look like according to modeling agencies. Because of this "typical" and "average" look, self esteem in women is at an all time low. It is perfectly fine to not wear a size zero, I mean after all...they make plus size for a reason. Women are beautiful just the way they are. Media should not depict how much you eat or how much you do not just because the label on women is not average at all. Face the facts...size 0 is overrated.

-Kelsie McDaniels

So what I'm not average...I'm beautiful

It is bad enough that girls have to constantly worry about every little thing in life such as makeup, hair, and what clothes to wear and if they are in style. When it comes to school; homework, tests and trying to fit it. But all that does not even compare to them constantly having to watch their weight or how they look. Because of bullying in teenagers, girls are constantly teased because they are not a size 0 or look like the average Prom Queen. Is there going to be a day when teenagers are not subjected to the "average" woman view of the media? Believe it or not, no matter what women say, the views of the man are the most important to them. So men, tell a woman that she is beautiful just the way she is. You might not know it now, but that will make her day. :)
-Kelsie McDaniels

What Has It Come Down To?

Of course, anorexia and bulimia are two of the most, well-known eating disorders around. In personal experience, I have never really seen someone, in person, that has either one, but I do know if I did it would be something I wouldn't support. I guess it just depends on the person and what they believe in, but promoting anorexia or bulimia seems like it would be way too over the top.

I just recently heard about Pro-ana, which stands for Promotion of Anorexia Nervosa. It is often referred to simply as "ana" and is sometimes affectionately personified by anorexics as a girl named Ana. Pro-ana sites often feature thinspiration (or thinspo): images or video montages of slim women, often celebrities, who may be anything from naturally slim to emacipated with visibly-protruding bones. Pro-ana bloggers, forum members and social networking groups likewise post thinspiration to motivate one another toward further weight loss.

Example of Thinspiration

 There are different types of Pro-ana blogs everywhere. You can search it on google and find different blogs with different discussions. So many people have their own opinion on these blogs; some like it, some don't.



Example of a Pro-ana blog.



 -Stephanie Mejia-

Role Models?

How can Nicole Richie and Lindsey Lohan truly be role models when they are that skinny? Their pictures are splashed across almost every tabloid magazine with multiple pictures of them inside looking deathly ill. Young girls, teenagers, and women pick up those magazines and will see how skinny they are then believe that to look beautiful you need to either not eat or feel guilty for eating. People need to eat healthily and exercise so they will not end up looking like a skeleton.
-Michele Casper

Unbelievable

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__HZmDsYK7Q

How is it that you can look like Paris Hilton and eat a burger that looks that good? It isn’t possible. Girls will look at her and think oh, maybe if I eat that burger maybe I will look that good while I dance around in a bikini washing a car. Not only is the ad sexist but it is false advertising.
-Michele Casper

The New Extreme

Being a model is a death sentence really. You either die a career suicide or you just die. High profile models who manage to land high profile designer ads, seem to all share one thing in common, an eating disorder. Either being Anorexia or Bulimia. At the beginning of their career they are extremely beautiful women, but as the years go by they  slowly change and change. They start to become skinner and skinner, thru probably a diet of smoking, drugs and less than 1000 calories a day, they are slowly killing themselves. Seeing pictures like the one above just makes me feel bad for them really, who new that beauty came with a price, that price being your life. We seem to live in a world that wants to exude nothing but perfection, but this isn't perfection its murder.
                                     Nathan Pirir

I saw this music video for Sleigh Bells "Infinity Guitars" the other day and i realized how dehumanized women are in music videos. It begins with the lead singer walking out of a car in shades and a schoolgirl outfit. We don't see her face. she walks down an empty street with a baseball bat. There are cheerleaders meant to look stupid and a bunch of guitars set on fire. There's even a pitbull set loose and running down a street. She has no emotion on her face at all.
Now, I understand Sleigh Bells music is generally violent but this doesn't mean that you can link women and violence so nonchalantly; especially when there are strong sexual undertones. The song itself has no real meaning, unless its suppose to be deep and personal, which I am not sure it it.
Deaf chords, dead ends
Sling set can't meet their demands
Dumb whores, best friends
Infinity guitars, go 'head

This is just half the lyrics of the nearly 3 minutes song. I mean the lead singer is a woman herself which is why i thought it was so concerning. This negative image that woman are blank smiling face waiting to be abused is so prevalent in our society, that it's becoming a stereotype that needs to be defeated.

Kevin Kiyoto

Her Other Alias...

Many people go through challenges they don't want to admit to. One well-known, extreme challenge women go through is eating disorders. This problem is a serious psychological condition where the person is obessesed with food, dieting and body imaging.

The media has such a dramatic impact on women to the point where the slightest body image comment can effect their idea of what the ideal body should be; that's what they want for themselves. This may lead to eating disorders. Some women never realize they have an eating disorder until someone confronts them about it. Others hide it from the people they love and care about dearly.

"I can't remember exactly what age I was the first time I purged. All I know is I was young. I'm 27 now and I don't think I can ever stop. I'm so secretive about it that my boyfriend of 5 years, who I have lived with for most of that time, doesn't even know."

There are different ways to treat eating disorders, depending on what type of disorder it is. Not only is eating disorders a bad way to live, but another downside to them is that they can take years to get rid of and over come.

-Stephanie Mejia-

Sex Sells. Here's Proof.

There's no doubt that sex sells. Sex calls to every human's biological need to reproduce. It draws upon our emotions and evokes our spirit. But where do you draw the line between a sexual advertisement and obscene images?

Take a look at this ad. Can you guess what they're trying to sell?

Yep, you guessed right! This ad is from a German based vacuum company. Who knew that high heels and hosiery could convince a man to get on his knees and vacuum? :)

- Sara Ballout