ROCKY ROAD OF BODY IMAGE
Bonespiration can be contagious, inspiring protruding ribs, thigh gaps and skeletal spines
Social media posts glorifying skin and bones, bodies plagued by anorexia and other eating disorders, are increasingly spreading online, according to a new study published in the Journal of Eating Disorders.
It’s appalling and a major worry, say experts. Five years ago, Instagram banned hashtags that actively promote self harm, but “it was just a question of time before the banned hashtag thinspiration would be replaced by something equally disastrous which is bonespiration,” says adolescent specialist Dr. Barbara Greenberg.
Pro-anorexia websites have been replaced by Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram, unleashing a massive reach and an insatiable appetite for followers, pressuring girls to aspire to thinness and normalizing distorted body ideals.
“Where there are trends there is social contagion,” says Greenberg, of drbarbaragreenberg.com. “Obsession with thinness allows entry into an ‘elite’ clique which is very exclusive and only allows the thinnest and most extreme dieters to be a member.
“This is sick in many ways. It encourages our young women to sacrifice everything to be part of this clique including food, health and perhaps even their lives,” adds Greenberg.
Jessica, 28, doesn’t want to belong any longer: “I find social media very triggering when you see everyone posting their bodies and also the food that they’re eating – because that’s a thing now days. I try to get off of social media and take a break if I feel like I’m going back to that dark place.”
Therapy is helping her deal with long-time body image issues: “I was a ballet dancer and constantly comparing myself to other girls. I would look at them and want to be thinner. I had such an unhealthy relationship with food and saw it as the enemy.” She would simply not eat, or binge and purge after.
According to Torontobased eating disorder survivor/specialist Kyla Fox, eating disorders do not develop because of social media, but social media can certainly support the negative selfconcept that already exists for someone. “Being able to have immediate and unlimited access to people and messages promoting harmful behaviour and unrealistic images of bodies makes social media a powerful and dangerous influencer.”
Anorexia and extreme weight loss are serious social and medical problems, damaging both physical and psychological health. “Eating disorders are deeply complex mental health issues that no one – no single person – is exempt from experiencing,” says Fox.
Fox struggled severely with an eating disorder and an over-exercise addiction in her late teens through her early twenties. “My harm crossed over all forms of eating disorder symptoms namely, restriction, binging and purging... what turned it around was the realization that I was actually going to die if I didn’t stop, my body was simply giving out and I couldn’t ignore that anymore.”
Fox says eating disorders are not about food and they are not about the body, they are about deeprooted feelings, core beliefs, historical and present circumstances, experiences, relationships, etc., that ultimately manifest in food and the body.
Endless research has demonstrated mass media effects on body image and disordered eating, yet you can be sure the glamorization of eating disorders won’t abate. And while there may be more body positive messaging out there, even the fitspiration postings are indistinguishable at times from pro-anorexia messaging, with guilt- and shame-inducing content promoting dieting, restraint and unhealthy bodies.
Parents need to be aware of what their kids are up to in their real lives and in their virtual lives, stresses Greenberg. “Schools, pediatricians and parents need to teach and model healthy body image and focus on the strength and health of the body rather than on what it looks like.”
Greenberg advises young girls to find a passion in life that has nothing to do with destroying themselves. “In my practice I see girls lose their way often and losing themselves in this #bonespiration pursuit is extremely frightening.”