What is your opinion on Thinspiration websites?

[Love.Hate]

Im curious to see different peoples opinions on Thinspiration or "thinspo" sites.
If you dont know what these are basically pictures of thin, beautiful people. Tips on drastic weightloss and basically trying to inspire people to become thin.

So i used to think they were ridiculous, as the models shown are dangerously underweight. But now i dont know.. I find these sites triggering and somtimes sadly helpful. I realise that some of the girls are too thin, and its pointless trying to aspire to be like them. Im just worried for the people that go on these websites and are sucked in by what is perceived as the "perfect" body image.

So what do you guys make of them? Do you agree with them? Use them?

Sorry if a thread has been made like this before.

[FullyAlive]

I think they are really bad and unhelpful, they encourage eating disorders and ridiculous goals and don't help people. However whilst I think that, and know that I still go on them. Usually if I've eaten properly I use them to guilt myself make myself purge or when I need some encouragement that it's all worth it. I know I shouldn't as they are really triggering and encourage me to do things I probably shouldn't but at the end of the day knowing they are out there means I can't stop myself looking at them.

[georgiamay]

I think they are really bad and unhelpful, they encourage eating disorders and ridiculous goals and don't help people. However whilst I think that, and know that I still go on them. Usually if I've eaten properly I use them to guilt myself make myself purge or when I need some encouragement that it's all worth it. I know I shouldn't as they are really triggering and encourage me to do things I probably shouldn't but at the end of the day knowing they are out there means I can't stop myself looking at them.

I completely agree with this.

The other thing that bothers me is that some of these sites were put together by people with eating disorders themselves, I've come across a lot like that. And what I find odd about that is that they would know that eating disorders are hell, but still put triggering images up and give tips that probably make other people with eating disorders a whole lot worse. Plus, someone that's already dangerously underweight might come along and see them, and not realising how skinny they already are, be triggered to go an extreme hardcore starve because of it.

I'll admit, I sometimes have a look because I sort of want to trigger myself. When I've gone through a stage of eating normally and feeling really guilty about the amount of calories I've eaten, I'll look at them and it'll trigger me to cut down, or to purge more often. Stupid, I know, I hate myself even more for looking at them, but I can't help it. I don't do it too often, but I'll admit that I feel the need to sometimes.

[MadManWithaBox]

Bad. It gives people false idols to base themselves on, and makes people think such things are ok.

[SWMG]

They are really bad and they inspire false idols for young to peoplr to admire and try to reach ridiculos goals

[Syvelocin]

Honestly, both good and bad. The sites themselves, I can't approve of. But wanting something else for yourself, especially if you actually are overweight, and having that sort of inspiration, I think can be positive. For people with the opposite eating disorders, having that sort of idolization, comparing and envying, isn't beneficial at all and will just make things worse.

[Dimitri]

I find it horrible. Personally I like my girl to have a little meat on their bones. I cannot stand to be in a realitionship with a girl who is the size of a toothpick (sorry if I sound shallow) and I could easily snap them over my knee. I hate when people have to try and live up to the standards that our society wants them too.

In the words of an amazing woman, my mother, "it is not how bog you are. it is how you throw your weight around." I think everyone should be happy with their weight and not try to live up to what others think is the perfect thing.

I am finished ranting now.

[Belton21]

I find it horrible. Personally I like my girl to have a little meat on their bones. I cannot stand to be in a realitionship with a girl who is the size of a toothpick (sorry if I sound shallow) and I could easily snap them over my knee. I hate when people have to try and live up to the standards that our society wants them too.

In the words of an amazing woman, my mother, "it is not how bog you are. it is how you throw your weight around." I think everyone should be happy with their weight and not try to live up to what others think is the perfect thing.

I am finished ranting now.

Hey I completely agree I like some meat with my taters lol

[ShatteredWings]

^^ WTF?


I'm more than guilty of visiting, and even signing up for a few. I haven't cancled any but I dont have the bookmarks anymore or know the passwords.

They're not good places though. It's places where people want to continue their eating disorder out of desperation for that goal.
I've noticed a significant number of pepole don't fall into the "really scary thin" range though. Not sure what the psycology is there.

it makes it harder to get out though.

[Fiction]

They're bad. I would do anything to stop someone finding those sites, I know they're so fucking triggering, but have I used them? Of course. It's different when it's yourself isn't it? ><

[moon_lit_angel]

As everyone here has already said. there bad news..! And give girls and guys the wrong idea..!!

[Love.Hate]

I'm glad I'm not the only One that finds them triggering. I think maybe they would help overweight people to be more determined to loose weight. But if you are already thin and underweight they are dangerous. It upsets me how many of these sites there are out there. It's just do hard to get away from all the media. But then again, its my own fault for going on them I suppose. I sometimes wonder why they are even legal.

[Weeping]

Yes, I've been "addicted" to them. It was the main thing I did on my computer. I almost stopped visiting all other sites and forums. I loved them.
Or well, I loved them "for me" but I didn't want anyone else to visit them.

And now they're overall a bunch of crap. Sure they may help overweight people, but then I find it better if they're looking at healthy people and get healthy tips.

[bperan]

They're good if you have an eating disorder, for me personally I'm anorexic well used to be I dont know I only eat once a day. Do I still used them? Sure. So for me they are useful.

Do I want others to use them? No please dont be that stupid.

[Nevermore]

Honestly it's a love hate relationship. You see I hate how it affects other people, so I'm against others looking at them. But I could care less about myself, and it incourages me to lose more weight, so in a sense I love them. So my smart side, that's thinking says they are awful and they encourage it, they should be banned, but the part of me that wants to lose weight is like, please more sites, more helpful hints, more weight loss. So I"m divided. :/

[LiTTleBrok3nDolly]

I just saw a website 80% of the girls i thought looked gorgeous thin, the other half were obviously unhealthy thin. I am currently loosing weight as ive posted everywhere and they were encouraging, they are, they inspire me to keep on losing weight, especially the before and after photos, those really caught my eyes. I mean any size lower than a 5 in my opinion is to thin, unless your under 5" then thats fine. But personally im 5"3 and want to weight 110, which isnt under weight for me, 105 is, my original plan was 100 but then i realized that when i was that heavy in high school i was underweight. And then i gained 3 pounds and i was just right, right above being underweight.
I say that anyone who is using those pictures like i am, be extremely careful not to get and ED, or your look terrible and it wont be healthy at all. I am being extremely careful, ive never purged and im happy, because i dont want to become ill and potentially die the slow and ugly way. I saw if you can see your ribs your to thin, or hip bones. It scares me to see girls that thin, because they think theyre beautiful when theyre really not at all.
Im conflicted as to whether or not they should be up, my opinion for the moment is to keep them up and hopefully those desiring to me stick thin will take a second look at themselves and realize what they really should want.

[Lethe]

I've actually been reading several of these and I find the tips they give are very helpful and logical. I want to be anorexic-thin and these tips seem helpful enough to make it happen. They can be harmful, but you have to know how to take the bad out of the situation so that only the good remains.

[bambino]

I think they're very bad. They only put fourth one ideal of beauty, and not the type that empowers women. The type that doesn't care if their health, fertility and mental well being suffer in an effort to achieve something unsustainable*.

VERY bad idea to look at thinspo sites IMO

*you won't be able to be that thin for long periods of time without dying or suffering life long problems

[LifeisLife]

I think they're horrible. They encourage starvation and anorexia and the people are just too skinny, I got extremely sad when my anorexia friend showed me pictures from one of the websites and said they were pretty. I think those websites can actually cause MORE harm then they can do to themselves seeing as that they only encourage it.

[XxMurderedKissesxX]

I think there bad. For me there good,because they have useful tips and inspiring pictures,but its bad because it encourages me to loose more weight,and try to obtain an unhealthy image of myself. Put simply it aids people negatively with their eating disorder.

[Amaryllis]

I want to give the people who own the websites a hug. Not because I believe in Thinspiration but because they are/were just like I was. I wanted to be thin so bad. I wanted to be "beautiful".

I wanted to be perfect.

They're absolutely horrible, yes. But for all you guys and girls with EDs or who had EDs or just have crappy self-esteem, you know how they feel. You become so obsessed with being thin, you just become blind. I was obsessed with food and exercise and weight. I couldn't stop.

I'm still obsessed. Minus the exercise. Now I just eat a lot. Anorexia was the worst thing that ever happened to me. It's the slowest form of suicide. It's a suicide that magnifies your pain and makes each day a living hell. I was in so much pain. My body was literally eating itself. It's self harm.

[ImperfectMess]

I think it depends on how I am in terms of my ED. I used to think they were stupid but when I am really bad (or in my mind good) I am on them all the time and I think they're great... I am online a lot and often end up on them because I have no one to talk to to stop myself.
So, if anyone needs to them messege me and we'll talk instead of going on!

I think that in some ways they are just as addictive and dangerous as the disorders themselves.

[kacibaybay]

triggering as fuck.
I look at them, not gonna lie.
bad idea for someone in recovery.

pro-ana websites, now that's a whole another story. those things should be banned off the internet.

[Spirit]

I've never been on one personally, but I know what types of "tips" they give you. They're absolutely horrible. People need to realize that these types of tips aren't helpful and they aren't meant to make you a better person, they're meant to force you to comply with an unrealistic goal. Being yourself is much more satisfying than worrying about things like that.

[The Dudeh]

I think they're awful to be honest. Impressionable young girls (and boys!) who are desperate to lose weight can find easy ways to do it without being discovered. I really dislike them, but sometimes I do find myself looking at them. Why? I have no idea.

[ShadowGirl]

It makes me sick to look at the pictures, but they make me not want to eat. I don't want to be that thin, but I would love to be a lot skinnier.

[Bath]

Me being afraid to eat has NOTHING to do with wanting to be skinny to be happy. I wanted to get smaller, and I'm more focused on the feeling of being hungry, and numbers. The satisfaction of knowing exactly how many calories are going into me, and how little bit I can take. It's about being as pure as possible. Empty.

I see those severely underweight models and I don't think it looks attractive.

It bothers me when people use thinsperation. Just because everyone else is doing it for a different reason. I'm the odd one out. :/