Tonight, I scrolled through a blog of a teenager‘s quest to be skinny. I was not able to read a lot from her page as it consists more of reblogged pictures of skinny women that I suppose are her “inspirations”. Aside from those, and her very short text posts about how insecure she feels about her body, she also posted a picture of her almost naked body (her head out of picture) to show her followers her “progress”.
Coming from someone who’s not in shape, she is not doing herself a favor. I know when it comes to being healthy, I’m not the one you’re supposed to be hearing advice from. But I know for a fact that starving yourself does not make you any better. I am not sure if her parents, or older siblings (if ever she has any), are aware of what she is going through, because she obviously doesn’t care about what she is really doing to herself. All she cares about is fitting in to a crowd full of skin-bone models who believe they are at their best. I assume she already knows the consequences of her actions, and that she doesn’t care because of what’s set in her head: she’s determined to have that 110 lbs. body.
I am a concerned netizen, yes, but I am usually not the type of person who would bother writing a blog about you not unless you’re a very important part of my life and that I have all the words to describe our relationship. However, her case really does worry me. I even sent her a message:
jessicafuentes asked: Hi. I don’t mean anything insulting or offending, but being skinny is not the definition of being beautiful. It doesn’t make you perfect. Sure it makes you look good on the outside, makes you more confident, lets you wear all kinds of clothes, etc. But that doesn’t make you beautiful. At all. Being healthy and having a kind heart does. What I said is conflicting with what you’re blogging about, but I guess we are all entitled to our opinions.. Guess that’s it. Just my two cents.
I am not sure if I sounded off friendly (I don’t think so either) but I just wanted to get those words out off my chest, while in hopes of her replying to me and actually proving me wrong…that she’s not wanting to be as skinny as those girls are in her photos, and that she wants to be healthy. But man, she didn’t. And I quote her:
“being skinny will make me feel beautiful. That’s all there is to it.”
And all I was able to say to myself was, “she’s crazy”. I figured that with that kind of mindset, sending her another message was not a good idea. I mean, she doesn’t care so why should she listen? And who am I for her to listen to?
Pfft.
What concerns me more, aside from the fact that she wants to be pin-thin, is that she is just 15 years old. Yes. Very young, indeed. At that age, what she should mind is just doing good in school so she’d have a chance of going to a good university. Unfortunately, that kid was exposed too much to all sorts of media. There goes the television showing her commercials of how being thin is lovelier and sexier, TV programs that only have pretty and skinny girls as their lead characters that end up having the best of endings. Glossy magazines that have very inviting pictures of models that can never be beyond 100 lbs. Then there’s music, with bunches of pretty-faced dudes, telling her how much sexy girls attract them. And of course, we have the mighty Internet that is working 24/7 just to tell her that with a body full of fat, she can never fit into the society full of girls with thick make-ups, clothes too small and tattered that they don’t look like normal clothes at all, heels too high they’re considered as weapons of mass destruction, and boys with buff bodies telling her they’d only date girls who “fit in”. So basically, she’s left with no choice but do what the media is telling her. Because if she wouldn’t, she’d never live a happy life.
A preview of her blog.
But you know what? Bullshit. That’s it totally, undeniably, I-swear-to-my-dead-dogs-graves-and-to-my-brother’s-bacon-underwear, complete bullshit.
Again, this is coming from someone unhealthy. I would already be extremely happy if we had the same body because I’m 30 pounds heavier than her. But because of what her mind believes is beautiful, she sees herself as someone who’s as large as a cow, when in fact, she has the ideal body most teenage girls would die for. Unluckily, she’s not seeing that. I feel sad for her. I really do.
My third point here is, her blog can influence a lot more girls. Just imagine how much more girls will be victimized by this epidemic anorexia that she is rooting for. Right now, reaching the age of 80 makes you very lucky. But if their generation will continue this very dangerous lifestyle to the point of passing it down to the next ones, age 50 will be a miracle. Personally, I’d like to live long enough to see my future grandchildren; so if I’m going to make a move, it’s going to be towards having a healthy life and being “skinny” will never be the center of my movement. I don’t want to be remembered by my future grandkids as a female meatball, as much as I don’t want to be remembered by them as a female pretzel stick.
There.
So whoever is reading this, please, for the sake of my dead dogs’ grave and my brother’s bacon underwear, do not succumb to what the media is telling you. Being skinny just covers a mere 1% of being beautiful. What matters is who you are entirely. What matters is the remaining 99%: your kind heart, your lively spirit, your Faith, and your healthy lifestyle. If the person next to you says otherwise, I am telling you s/he’s not a good influence for you. I am not saying that I am, but I just know this in my heart for a fact.
{ Concentrated Poetry } 