Tag Archives: women

Body Image Dichotomy: Thinspo vs Fitspo

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In the realm of body image, one of the highest trending search topics are Thinspo (abbreviation for Thin Inspiration) and Fitspo (short-hand for Fitness Inspiration).  The idea and popularity behind Thinspo has been increasing particularly among young women the past couple years.  Books have been written regarding this relatively new and shocking craze.

 

Thinspo is essentially the glorification of eating disorders as a form of weight-loss and being “healthy.”  The main eating disorder Thinspo enthusiasts support is “Ana” short for Anorexia.  In order to encourage starvation or food resistance, Thinspo enthusiasts surround themselves with emaciated photographs of what their ideal body image will be.

 

Related: The Real Deal On Eating Disorders and the Growing “Thinspo” Trend

 

Erroneous Body Image

Continuously seeing these images helps to reinforce the resistance to eat, and to continue starvation.  Thinspo enthusiasts see this as a healthy goal, and their desire for “perfection” reaches unhealthy extremes.  The internet has been flooded with images of “models” with bulging bones, gaunt faces, and dead eyes. Support groups for Thinspo are at an all-time high.  Trying to reason with Thinspo enthusiasts seems to be a lost cause because their desire for stick-thin figures is so strong that they are willing to do anything to be “skinny”.

 

As Thinspo diets (or lack thereof) increase in popularity, women on the opposite spectrum of this craze have retaliated with the newer health craze “Fitspo.”  Fitspo is a mixture of clean eating and exercise, basically the epitome of good health.  The same process resides within this trend of circulating photos of women with rock hard abs, and women eating healthy foods to reinforce good and positive health habits.

 

Related: Fitspo: Is Strong The New Skinny?

 

The difference between the two trends is stark and challenges anyone who attempts to achieve skinniness and perfection.  They are two extremes of different body types, both attempting to claim the title as “healthy” looking. Whether it be starvation or over-exercising can result in loss of body fat which will ultimately result in Amenorrhea in women, which is the body’s way of shutting down the reproductive system by stopping the production of estrogen until a healthier equilibrium of fat and health is achieved.  The results and requirements of both Thinspo and Fitspo are at a pinnacle.

 

Whether you want to lose a few vanity pounds or an extreme amount of weight, doctors and health experts would agree that Thinspo is not the healthy route, and is dangerous when attempted.  Eating sensibly, avoiding processed foods, and getting adequate exercise 3-5 days a week is the healthy alternative for anyone trying to lose weight and be healthier over all.  Depriving your body of nourishment is not.  Think smart, eat smart, and be healthy.

Modern Virgin Marys

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We know what’s special about the blessed Mary. She conceived Jesus while maintaining her virginity. It seemed impossible and thus, miraculous. But women nowadays can do the same – skipping sexual intercourse and still have a baby growing in their belly.

 

People who had problems conceiving will resort to the In vitro fertilisation (which costs $12,400 per cycle). This process will extract the egg cell from the mother and sperms from the father. Specialists will then fertilize it in the laboratory and inject it to a woman’s uterus. There’s no sex involved.

 

Women have never worked more than they are working now. They occupy 46.9% of America’s workforce. The balance is expected to shift more towards the ladies since 68% more women earn a bachelor’s degree than men. With their focus on their careers, they have less time for family.

 

Their problem is their body clock.  Fertility declines at early 30’s and the risk of miscarriage is at 20%. More complications arise as they pass the age 35, with increased pregnancy risks and after birth problems such as a 1 in 350 chance of the child having Down syndrome.

 

They counter their body’s declining facility by extracting healthy egg in their prime age of 20s. They’ll freeze it and store it in a bank for use in the future. Women can do what they want to do without fear of their expiration.

 

Would you choose profession over family?

He’s Male, She’s Female

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It doesn’t take us more than a split second to determine whether the people we see around us are male or female. It happens automatically, like a reflex. But reflexes can be suppressed, like the awkward and unavoidable moment when you say sir to a woman. How do our brains know what gender our eyes see?

 

It’s strange that when you’re born, you don’t understand a word, literally. Only when you’re told that he is your father and that she is your mother, it becomes clear that there is a difference between them. Or did you already know that? We understand the word ‘male’ when it is explained to us. But once we know what that word means, we automatically know that he does fit the description, and she doesn’t. The description itself, however, is pre-programmed in our brains. There is a logical explanation for this because in order to reproduce this, information is necessary. But it is a mystery how our brains seamlessly connect the word to the description.

 

What exactly is the description then? Men are more muscled, but woman can train their muscles as well. The chin and cheekbones of men are more prominent, also because the faces of women hold more fat. Women’s eyebrows are high arched, and men have more facial hair and their skin is thicker. This is only a fraction of the checklist. Brains process faces almost too fast. Are they very fast, or is there something else, something our brains can perceive, but we can’t?

 

The only moment you start wondering what makes a man a man and a woman a woman is when your brains hesitate. We are challenging them, for example, by wearing clothes. As we grow up our brains might get used to, maybe an outdated assumption, women having longer hair than men. Or to the difference between clothes, to women’s tight jeans, to men’s boring t-shirts. But women wear clothes originally designed for men all the time. This really will get our brains confused, especially when they already have trouble determining the gender by facial characteristics. If plastic surgery becomes even more widespread, will our brains keep up, or is the 21st century too much to handle?