Open Letter to Six Apart: On Anorexia
There are many reasons to be irritated at Six Apart right now. The piss-poor customer relations. The unclear standards. The sudden deletions. The double standards that seem to be impacting fandom more than anyone else. The blanket label of "child pornography" in reference to art depicting Harry Potter at the age of 18 or higher, because Harry Potter is always a child, even though he was 38 at the end of the canon books and has fathered three children of his own. Yeaaaaaaaaaah. So, yes, there are many reasons why Six Apart is currently worthy of extreme bitch-slappery right now.
However, one thing pissed me off more than anything else, and on a deeply personal level. The people of Six Apart want to ban LJ users under the guise of child pornography accusations, on the premise that our fanart is harmful and subversive and horrible. However, somewhere in the middle of this stupid wank-fest, Six Apart is presented with the fact that there are pro-anorexia groups (not support groups for anorexic people trying to recover, but groups that actually treat anorexia like the best fad diet and a positive lifestyle) using LJ communities are their bases of operation. In response, coffeechica simply states that they think those groups are fine, and that there's nothing wrong with wanting to be thin.
I don't think I have ever, EVER been more DISGUSTED by a blatant display of idiocy than this. There's nothing wrong with wanting to be thin, right? Oh, my dear, dear
coffeechica, you know not what you say. Or, at least, I HOPE you don't have a bloody clue as to the filthy can of worms you just opened. I really HOPE you don't know how ignorant and stupid you're being. Because if you actually have a clue as to the real nature of anorexia and other eating disorders, then you are lower than a foul, loathesome, evil little cockroach. Let me tell you a few things about eating disorders, seeing as it seems you can't tell the difference between a diet and a mental illness.
I'm going to preface this with my qualifications. I'm a biologist, with a pre-med background. I was awarded the Army Achievement Medal for attaining the highest standard level of physical fitness in US Army, and in addition to my regular Soldier duties, I functioned as a diet and exercise advisor for Soldiers having difficulties. I began training as a competitive athlete 22 years ago. And... I suffered from Anorexia/Bulimia for six years. Yeah, I think I'm fairly well qualified to discuss this.
The first thing you need to know is the definition of a healthy diet. Such a diet will have an adequate balance of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, fiber, and other vital nutrients. A diet lacking adequate quantities of ANY of these things is malnutrition. Yes, even fats. A diet completely lacking fat will lead to brittle hair and nails, poor skin condition, and a myriad of other problems. The amount of calories needed should reflect a person's energy output in order to maintain a healthy weight. Any significant imbalance will lead to health problems. Intentionally upsetting this balance is equivalent to intentionally inflicting harm to one's self. Sure, there are days when any normal person might over-eat or under-eat, but that's not the same thing as an ongoing obsession over starvation as a good thing. It's a sign of severe psychological disorders, and should NEVER be encouraged. Yet that's what pro-anorexia groups do.
If a person does need to cut back on calorie consumption or increase energy output, then a person should have a realistic idea of healthy goals and how to get there. A person with a healthy mentality will be able to balance their body image with a realistic understanding of weight, body fat, and health. A person of a normal weight will know that his or her body is normal. However, with the pressures of society, stick-thin models, and the constant criticism of celebrities who aren't stick-thin, it's easy to see how many people, especially young women with perfectionist tendencies, to begin to see their perfectly normal bodies as being too heavy. Those same people will use extreme methods to reach their goals, which, simply put, is self-harm on the same level as using illegal drugs, practicing self-mutilation, or attempting suicide. To encourage pro-anorexia groups is to encourage something just as harmful as intentional drug-overdose. The horrible side-effects just doesn't appear as quickly.
The effects of long term anorexia are brain damage, organ failure, loss of hair, degeneration of skin and nails, immune system failure, and eventual DEATH BY STARVATION. The long-term effects of bulimia include erosion of the upper digestive tract, throat, and teeth, permanent gastric reflux disease, increased chance of heart-attack or stroke, increased chance of aneurism, and electrolyte imbalance, along with all the symptoms of anorexia if the bulimic person doesn't retain enough nutrients to support normal physiological function. Of course, that says nothing of the associated clinical depression, the way people's lives fall apart, the way their entire world revolves around their avoidance of food or the binge-purge cycle, their obsessive-compulsive behaviours, and the high rates of suicide amongst people with eating disorders.
It's easy for some people to fall victim to this. Too easy. It impacts perfectionist females more than any other group, but it can affect anyone, including men. It usually starts innocently enough. Maybe someone wants to lose ten pounds for a wedding. Maybe someone feels jealous of her thinner friend who gets the attention of the boys more easily. Maybe a girl wanted to look good in her high school prom dress... which is what happened to me.
So it starts with a basic diet. And exercise. And it becomes obsessive. It becomes extreme. The 1,200 calorie diet of more standard weight-loss plans drops down to 500 calories. Then 300. Then 200. The three-mile run after school becomes seven miles. Ten miles. The weight isn't coming off fast enough, so you add diet pills. They make your heart race and your head spin, but you lose another pound, so it was worth it.
Many of the victims know the harm it can cause, but by the time they realize they're really doing, the disease is controlling them. A crash diet has become a disorder. A quest to fit into that pair of jeans becomes a full-time obsession. The only thing they can do without completely losing it is to maintain a facade of control, and imagine that they're not really sick. They could stop anytime they want to. Even the ones who know they have a problem are too phobic of gaining an ounce of weight to let themselves even try to eat normally. If they step on a scale and they're even the slightest bit heavier, they go into a complete panic, and might not even drink water until their weight is back down again. And no matter how thin they get, it's NEVER GOOD ENOUGH. They spend their lives chasing an impossible goal, trying to justify what they're doing, obsessing over weight, convincing themselves that they're fat when they're really skeletal. They know their world is falling apart around them, but as long as they're still thin, it's okay. They know their bodies are beginning to deteriorate, but as long as their clothes are still loose, it's okay. But it's not.
They hate themselves. They're too fat, but they're doing all they can. They don't see that their bodies are wasting away and their muscles are weakening. They CAN'T see it. They're depressed. They're miserable. They may become suicidal. Still, they convince themselves that they're in control. They convince themselves that this is the right way. The only way. There's no other way. Their disease takes over their lives.
Maybe friends and family figure it out. Maybe someone tries to help. Maybe even the person with the eating disorder tries to get help. Maybe they even start trying to turn things around on their own because they finally reach a point where they know they have to get better or their eating disorder will kill them.
And then... they find people ENCOURAGING THEM TO STARVE THEMSELVES. There's a whole community, online, where they can hide away from their real life, and let themselves slide deeper and deeper into their mental illness. Their dirty little secret suddenly has an in-crowd. Their longing to be accepted is fulfilled, and their desperation to be thin is supported. And that community is SUPPORTED by Six Apart. Condoned. Acceptable. Suddenly, it's okay for them to starve themselves and destroy their bodies, letting themselves die a slow, gruesome death. After that, there's no turning back.
The problem of anorexia is both personal and societal. It affects people on a personal level, but it's created on a society level. It's dangerous. It's deadly. It's a real mental health crisis, and a true psychological disorder. I know, because I experienced it all myself. I was intelligent enough to know what was happening, but human enough to still fall victim. It's scary. It's terrifying. It took me years to get out of it, even when I just wanted it to end. I would think I was okay. I was eating normally again, and on a normal exercise routine, but then one day, I'd eat too large of a dessert, and I'd panic, and it would be like I was eighteen again, and my world was spiralling out of control because of a damn cookie.
Even though I'm mostly fine now, at the age of 27, more than ten years after this insanity began, there are still days when I look in the mirror and have a hard time accepting what I see. It will affect me for the rest of my life. A few times, it almost caused me to lose my life. And there are many who lose that battle.
So,
coffeechica, is that what you want to support? Is that Six Apart's stand on eating disorders? There's nothing wrong with wanting to be thin, right? Even if young, impressionable teenage and pre-teen girls are reading this stuff and starving themselves when they've barely reached puberty? Even if these girls, after getting sucked in, aren't "good enough anorexics" and kill themselves out of sheer self-loathing? Or if they overdose on diet pills and suffer heart attacks at the age of sixteen?
You say you want to snuff out child pornography to "protect the children". Do you know how many teenage girls develop eating disorders because of the pressures of society? Do you understand that by condoning and publicly stating your approval for these groups, more little girls will probably begin starving themselves? The pressures of society are already there. For many young girls, it might only take the smallest suggestion to tip them over the edge. After that, it's a long, dark slide to the bottom of a horrible fate, and not everybody manages to climb back out.
Maybe you should stop worrying about who Harry shags after he leaves Hogwarts (as an adult, might I add), and start worrying about what will happen when people see your thoughts on horrible things like anorexia. It's not a joke. It's not a fad diet. It's a mental health crisis and a tragedy of society... and you're doing your part to make it worse. Congratuations, I hope you're proud of yourselves.
However, one thing pissed me off more than anything else, and on a deeply personal level. The people of Six Apart want to ban LJ users under the guise of child pornography accusations, on the premise that our fanart is harmful and subversive and horrible. However, somewhere in the middle of this stupid wank-fest, Six Apart is presented with the fact that there are pro-anorexia groups (not support groups for anorexic people trying to recover, but groups that actually treat anorexia like the best fad diet and a positive lifestyle) using LJ communities are their bases of operation. In response, coffeechica simply states that they think those groups are fine, and that there's nothing wrong with wanting to be thin.
I don't think I have ever, EVER been more DISGUSTED by a blatant display of idiocy than this. There's nothing wrong with wanting to be thin, right? Oh, my dear, dear
coffeechica, you know not what you say. Or, at least, I HOPE you don't have a bloody clue as to the filthy can of worms you just opened. I really HOPE you don't know how ignorant and stupid you're being. Because if you actually have a clue as to the real nature of anorexia and other eating disorders, then you are lower than a foul, loathesome, evil little cockroach. Let me tell you a few things about eating disorders, seeing as it seems you can't tell the difference between a diet and a mental illness.
I'm going to preface this with my qualifications. I'm a biologist, with a pre-med background. I was awarded the Army Achievement Medal for attaining the highest standard level of physical fitness in US Army, and in addition to my regular Soldier duties, I functioned as a diet and exercise advisor for Soldiers having difficulties. I began training as a competitive athlete 22 years ago. And... I suffered from Anorexia/Bulimia for six years. Yeah, I think I'm fairly well qualified to discuss this.
The first thing you need to know is the definition of a healthy diet. Such a diet will have an adequate balance of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, fiber, and other vital nutrients. A diet lacking adequate quantities of ANY of these things is malnutrition. Yes, even fats. A diet completely lacking fat will lead to brittle hair and nails, poor skin condition, and a myriad of other problems. The amount of calories needed should reflect a person's energy output in order to maintain a healthy weight. Any significant imbalance will lead to health problems. Intentionally upsetting this balance is equivalent to intentionally inflicting harm to one's self. Sure, there are days when any normal person might over-eat or under-eat, but that's not the same thing as an ongoing obsession over starvation as a good thing. It's a sign of severe psychological disorders, and should NEVER be encouraged. Yet that's what pro-anorexia groups do.
If a person does need to cut back on calorie consumption or increase energy output, then a person should have a realistic idea of healthy goals and how to get there. A person with a healthy mentality will be able to balance their body image with a realistic understanding of weight, body fat, and health. A person of a normal weight will know that his or her body is normal. However, with the pressures of society, stick-thin models, and the constant criticism of celebrities who aren't stick-thin, it's easy to see how many people, especially young women with perfectionist tendencies, to begin to see their perfectly normal bodies as being too heavy. Those same people will use extreme methods to reach their goals, which, simply put, is self-harm on the same level as using illegal drugs, practicing self-mutilation, or attempting suicide. To encourage pro-anorexia groups is to encourage something just as harmful as intentional drug-overdose. The horrible side-effects just doesn't appear as quickly.
The effects of long term anorexia are brain damage, organ failure, loss of hair, degeneration of skin and nails, immune system failure, and eventual DEATH BY STARVATION. The long-term effects of bulimia include erosion of the upper digestive tract, throat, and teeth, permanent gastric reflux disease, increased chance of heart-attack or stroke, increased chance of aneurism, and electrolyte imbalance, along with all the symptoms of anorexia if the bulimic person doesn't retain enough nutrients to support normal physiological function. Of course, that says nothing of the associated clinical depression, the way people's lives fall apart, the way their entire world revolves around their avoidance of food or the binge-purge cycle, their obsessive-compulsive behaviours, and the high rates of suicide amongst people with eating disorders.
It's easy for some people to fall victim to this. Too easy. It impacts perfectionist females more than any other group, but it can affect anyone, including men. It usually starts innocently enough. Maybe someone wants to lose ten pounds for a wedding. Maybe someone feels jealous of her thinner friend who gets the attention of the boys more easily. Maybe a girl wanted to look good in her high school prom dress... which is what happened to me.
So it starts with a basic diet. And exercise. And it becomes obsessive. It becomes extreme. The 1,200 calorie diet of more standard weight-loss plans drops down to 500 calories. Then 300. Then 200. The three-mile run after school becomes seven miles. Ten miles. The weight isn't coming off fast enough, so you add diet pills. They make your heart race and your head spin, but you lose another pound, so it was worth it.
Many of the victims know the harm it can cause, but by the time they realize they're really doing, the disease is controlling them. A crash diet has become a disorder. A quest to fit into that pair of jeans becomes a full-time obsession. The only thing they can do without completely losing it is to maintain a facade of control, and imagine that they're not really sick. They could stop anytime they want to. Even the ones who know they have a problem are too phobic of gaining an ounce of weight to let themselves even try to eat normally. If they step on a scale and they're even the slightest bit heavier, they go into a complete panic, and might not even drink water until their weight is back down again. And no matter how thin they get, it's NEVER GOOD ENOUGH. They spend their lives chasing an impossible goal, trying to justify what they're doing, obsessing over weight, convincing themselves that they're fat when they're really skeletal. They know their world is falling apart around them, but as long as they're still thin, it's okay. They know their bodies are beginning to deteriorate, but as long as their clothes are still loose, it's okay. But it's not.
They hate themselves. They're too fat, but they're doing all they can. They don't see that their bodies are wasting away and their muscles are weakening. They CAN'T see it. They're depressed. They're miserable. They may become suicidal. Still, they convince themselves that they're in control. They convince themselves that this is the right way. The only way. There's no other way. Their disease takes over their lives.
Maybe friends and family figure it out. Maybe someone tries to help. Maybe even the person with the eating disorder tries to get help. Maybe they even start trying to turn things around on their own because they finally reach a point where they know they have to get better or their eating disorder will kill them.
And then... they find people ENCOURAGING THEM TO STARVE THEMSELVES. There's a whole community, online, where they can hide away from their real life, and let themselves slide deeper and deeper into their mental illness. Their dirty little secret suddenly has an in-crowd. Their longing to be accepted is fulfilled, and their desperation to be thin is supported. And that community is SUPPORTED by Six Apart. Condoned. Acceptable. Suddenly, it's okay for them to starve themselves and destroy their bodies, letting themselves die a slow, gruesome death. After that, there's no turning back.
The problem of anorexia is both personal and societal. It affects people on a personal level, but it's created on a society level. It's dangerous. It's deadly. It's a real mental health crisis, and a true psychological disorder. I know, because I experienced it all myself. I was intelligent enough to know what was happening, but human enough to still fall victim. It's scary. It's terrifying. It took me years to get out of it, even when I just wanted it to end. I would think I was okay. I was eating normally again, and on a normal exercise routine, but then one day, I'd eat too large of a dessert, and I'd panic, and it would be like I was eighteen again, and my world was spiralling out of control because of a damn cookie.
Even though I'm mostly fine now, at the age of 27, more than ten years after this insanity began, there are still days when I look in the mirror and have a hard time accepting what I see. It will affect me for the rest of my life. A few times, it almost caused me to lose my life. And there are many who lose that battle.
So,
coffeechica, is that what you want to support? Is that Six Apart's stand on eating disorders? There's nothing wrong with wanting to be thin, right? Even if young, impressionable teenage and pre-teen girls are reading this stuff and starving themselves when they've barely reached puberty? Even if these girls, after getting sucked in, aren't "good enough anorexics" and kill themselves out of sheer self-loathing? Or if they overdose on diet pills and suffer heart attacks at the age of sixteen?
You say you want to snuff out child pornography to "protect the children". Do you know how many teenage girls develop eating disorders because of the pressures of society? Do you understand that by condoning and publicly stating your approval for these groups, more little girls will probably begin starving themselves? The pressures of society are already there. For many young girls, it might only take the smallest suggestion to tip them over the edge. After that, it's a long, dark slide to the bottom of a horrible fate, and not everybody manages to climb back out.
Maybe you should stop worrying about who Harry shags after he leaves Hogwarts (as an adult, might I add), and start worrying about what will happen when people see your thoughts on horrible things like anorexia. It's not a joke. It's not a fad diet. It's a mental health crisis and a tragedy of society... and you're doing your part to make it worse. Congratuations, I hope you're proud of yourselves.