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YouLookFab Forum » Topic: * https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/this-pinterest-board-makes-me-sad Style Advice for Fashion Lovers en-US Wed, 29 Apr 2026 05:00:26 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 <![CDATA[Search]]> q https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/search.php deb on "*" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/this-pinterest-board-makes-me-sad#post-970400 Thu, 04 Jul 2013 03:30:40 +0000 deb 970400@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Hmmmm.... the board speaks to me in a way that I truly understand. Yes, it is difficult to look at, but the only way to learn what someone you love is thinking is to actually listen to them. Either their written words or verbal words. I am able to personally speak to this issue as I have an eating disorder. I may not look it, but it is much like alcoholism, it is with you for life and a constant battle. I was bulimic at the age of 10 or 11 but not consistently.  Always every summer and sometimes at other times of the year. At around 16 I was a full blown anorexic. I was able to manage my life and condition quite well until my late 30's. In 1992 I was hospitalized, near death, weighing 86 pounds.  Una, I have no words to help you with your friend because each individual is so different. Our psychological make-up is just that way. What sparked my illness and subsequent recovery cannot be duplicated because of my individuality. What I do know is that nobody but the person with the disorder can help them. I hurt so many people in so many ways and the guilt will always be with me  until the day I die but all I can do is go on living. I spent 10 years in intensive therapy and had a wonderful therapist who put up with me for all of those years. Una, or anyone else, if you have specific questions about the disorder, message me. I will try to answer as honestly as I can. The only way we can help others is to understand what they may be feeling. claracluck on "*" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/this-pinterest-board-makes-me-sad#post-970199 Wed, 03 Jul 2013 21:59:45 +0000 claracluck 970199@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ so sad.those girls just seem like they're in an unreachable place,so far removed from reality that they can't climb out of the personel hell of the diease,like drug addicts.my daughter is nearly 15 and I try all the time to promote good body image but its a hard battle to fight the media etc. Irene on "*" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/this-pinterest-board-makes-me-sad#post-970077 Wed, 03 Jul 2013 18:53:12 +0000 Irene 970077@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ The internet has aggravated the issue of Eating Disorders a lot, together with advertising and fashion. It's just SO easy for them to find other people that think and live the same way, it actually becomes 'normal'. It scares me to see how many of you know someone who has gone through an eating disorder, and I am no exception. I can at least think of three people that have been through this. I feel like in the past 5-10 years Anorexia (and Bulimia, to some extent) has been glamorized. Ana and Mia are beautiful,  a sign of willpower, sexy. They are cool. Unlike any other mental illnesses, Ana is a cool disorder. Girls strive to become anorectic, they ask for advice on how to do it, they search for information, they tell each other their daily routines on blogs and have their commandments, songs, rules, games, races. It's like a religion. It's unbelievable. I can't imagine this happening with psychosis or schizophrenia. And it's sort of understandable. While, fortunately, most girls don't have the self-destructive personality that truly leads them to the real illness (in the end, Ana is not about being thin, it's about not being at all, disappearing, being undeserving of nutrition, blaming yourself and punishing yourself with pain, etc), many of them give it a try and go through drastic diets. And who can blame them when everyone (commercials, retail stores, top-models, magazines) is telling you that you need to lose weight. Jeasy. Archer on "*" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/this-pinterest-board-makes-me-sad#post-969774 Wed, 03 Jul 2013 13:24:47 +0000 Archer 969774@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ It was a really good thing to post alaskagirl.  You can tell by how many different directions the conversation is going.  I think that it is helpful to have conversations about difficult concepts and emotional issues etc.so that you get your head around what is going on for your friend.  I am guessing the interest board and this thread are both part of that.  All the rest of the lines of interpretation of the phenomenon of the pinboard and the reader response and and and blah, blah, blah -  would keep us going just far too long... Archer Aiming straight  Hope it's helped. catgirl on "*" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/this-pinterest-board-makes-me-sad#post-969601 Wed, 03 Jul 2013 03:57:19 +0000 catgirl 969601@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I think it's the confusion of mixed messages - the control/winning vs. self-hatred.  I'm sorry if I offended anyone by posting - I was just so shocked to see this friend (who is my age) posting that she feels this way even now, at 47, as a mother of five teen and adult kids.  She is in and out of treatment, but pretty open about the fact that she hates everything about treatment. Zap, whatever you edited out, I didn't see it.  Don't edit yourself for me.  I love you and your opinions! Isabel on "*" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/this-pinterest-board-makes-me-sad#post-969532 Wed, 03 Jul 2013 02:40:03 +0000 Isabel 969532@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I don't really know what to make of this board.  The images are sad for many reasons.   Are these women suppose to be inspirational for the pinner ?  Then I feel sorry for the pinner.  As Diana points out, we don't know who the women in the pics are and they could have all kinds of issues that don't have to do with eating disorders.  But the fact that someone has them as a vision board is very sad.  The fact that there are followers is equally sad.  Anonymous on "*" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/this-pinterest-board-makes-me-sad#post-969268 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 21:59:24 +0000 Anonymous 969268@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Diana, I did not see the writing on the images. I will edit my comment out! Carry on everyone... Diana on "*" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/this-pinterest-board-makes-me-sad#post-969266 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 21:51:36 +0000 Diana 969266@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I agree with Astrid, it's the messages combined with the images that are disturbing.  Plus, the title of the board is "My friend Ana/Thinspiration" which is pretty unequivocal if you ask me.  While I agree that you can't always diagnose eating disorders by looking at someone, I would argue that there is a clearly visible difference between someone being underweight or a little too thin and someone being skeletally thin.  This point is perhaps clearer if you have seen it happen in person; to see someone waste away is extremely disturbing and sad.  Now of course the skeletally thin person could be suffering from cancer or something, but that is a little different, I think, because nobody aspires to have cancer. Anonymous on "*" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/this-pinterest-board-makes-me-sad#post-969265 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 21:47:38 +0000 Anonymous 969265@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Edited out... lyn* on "*" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/this-pinterest-board-makes-me-sad#post-969258 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 21:35:17 +0000 lyn* 969258@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Drat. I reward myself with food all the time. Astrid on "*" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/this-pinterest-board-makes-me-sad#post-969250 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 21:16:03 +0000 Astrid 969250@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Zap, I think the thing is that these pictures here are linked to all these messages that clearly are unhealthy. "My heart is empty. My stomach should be too." "If I can't be the pretty one I want to be the skinny one." "Whenever I eat, I feel guilty and ashamed and sick. But for some reason, I can't resist food. I can't win..." "You're not a dog. Don't reward yourself with food." "I want to be the smallest I can possibly be... when I see bone, that's the day I will finally feel free..." And so on. I don't say being thin or being healthy is a bad thing, but these pics carry a very negative message, they are not positive encouragement to live a healthy life. Janet on "*" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/this-pinterest-board-makes-me-sad#post-969243 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 21:09:21 +0000 Janet 969243@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I do find it sad. Some of the images on the board are typical model-thin stuff and don't bother me more than any other model-thin images (although I hate that anyone over a size 4 is "plus size" in a model). However, the images, especially the ones with accompanying "inspirational" text, that clearly celebrate someone in (or striving for) a state of self-starvation are very disturbing.  IK, I am personally a little bothered by images that go to either extreme, but there is special cultural significance to this pro-ana phenomenon. It's silently endorsed by an irresponsible culture of promoting model-thinness at all costs. This simply does not exist at the other end of the weight spectrum.  Anonymous on "*" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/this-pinterest-board-makes-me-sad#post-969232 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 20:54:28 +0000 Anonymous 969232@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Edited out... Transcona Shannon on "*" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/this-pinterest-board-makes-me-sad#post-969164 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 18:48:52 +0000 Transcona Shannon 969164@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ As soon as I read your comments Una I knew I couldn't even open the board and look at it. I had a cousin who died at the age of 32 of complications from anorexia. She had actually been in recovery for over a year but the damage had already been done to her organs and she went into kidney failure and then had a heart attack a few days after that. It's very sad that a person can see these types of images as attractive. I hope your friend can get some help.  ironkurtin on "*" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/this-pinterest-board-makes-me-sad#post-969108 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 17:42:53 +0000 ironkurtin 969108@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I think physical extremes can be very difficult to process.  Although I wonder, would there be the same response if these were morbidly obese women? rachylou on "*" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/this-pinterest-board-makes-me-sad#post-969040 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 16:33:18 +0000 rachylou 969040@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I suppose I am not evolved and compassionate. But I'm not saddened. I'm repulsed. A whole board is overwhelming. The words that come to my mind are freakish, grotesque, ugly in heart and eye. Diana on "*" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/this-pinterest-board-makes-me-sad#post-969010 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 16:07:41 +0000 Diana 969010@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I couldn't finish looking at this board.  I've known a couple of people who have suffered from eating disorders and it is such a hard and painful thing to watch.  Does pinterest have a policy about pro-ana images?  I know a lot of sites don't allow them.  I'm wondering if you should report this - although I don't know if it would help your friend, perhaps it would prevent other vulnerable women from stumbling upon it.  Archer on "*" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/this-pinterest-board-makes-me-sad#post-968935 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 14:28:03 +0000 Archer 968935@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Mmm: does Pinterest do a line in domestic violence, mental illness and other diseases like that? Sarah A on "*" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/this-pinterest-board-makes-me-sad#post-968881 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 13:11:13 +0000 Sarah A 968881@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ So awful. I had several friends in college who struggled with eating disorders and it was so hard to watch them struggle. Astrid on "*" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/this-pinterest-board-makes-me-sad#post-968808 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 10:29:16 +0000 Astrid 968808@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I couldn't scroll to the end either, this really disturbs me. I've heard of "Thinspiration" images on Pinterest and Tumblr before, but I've never looked at ones before. I try to avoid pinning images of clearly unhealthy women on my Pinterest boards when they crop up on my welcome page, even when I like an outfit. I just can't enjoy it when I see the unhappy woman wearing it. There was a case of eating disorder in my group of friends when I was a teen and it's very difficult to cope with that, because you can't do anything and feel so helpless. Anonymous on "*" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/this-pinterest-board-makes-me-sad#post-968793 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 09:11:05 +0000 Anonymous 968793@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ It makes me feel sad too. I had to stop scrolling. Is your friend seeking help at the moment? Deborah on "*" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/this-pinterest-board-makes-me-sad#post-968754 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 05:06:34 +0000 Deborah 968754@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ This is disturbing.  I couldn't keep scrolling through lyn* on "*" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/this-pinterest-board-makes-me-sad#post-968745 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 04:37:52 +0000 lyn* 968745@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Man, that board was too much for me to look at. I hope that your friend feels better. :(  A lot of those girls don't look very healthy (or very happy) at all - I think that's the striking thing - if these are their "inspirations" then why do they look so miserable? I think the pics where they are smiling and clearly very ill (the model in the fit and flare dress) - that just breaks my heart! catgirl on "*" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/this-pinterest-board-makes-me-sad#post-968734 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 03:45:05 +0000 catgirl 968734@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ *