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Reply 20
An eating disorder is a mental illness, you ignorant tw*t
Actually, you'd be surprised to know the amount of Korean, Japanese and Chinese young ladies who fight to lose kilos to be as slim as possible... As well as all the surgical operations/cosmetic changes to try and copy certain Occidental features.

That said, some eating disorders do not have as an end to be more "sexually appealing", thoug most do.
There is also a lot of hypocresy as you put it, of girls who aren't fat who think they need to lose some weight, but probably realise they don't need it (not as much as other people), and will thus say that to other girls to avoid them falling into the same frame of mind.
Original post by ellakrystina
There is a difference between whiney, attention-seeking bitches and those who genuinely have mental illnesses.


Why don't women in third world countries have this "mental illness"? Why don't working class girls have it as much as middle class girls? Why is it less prevalent in the Asian community (in the UK and US)? The reason is simple, they place less value on hedonism, vanity and self-indulgence whereas white middle class girls are rolling in it. I don't like how everyone panders to them either, show them no attention and they'll soon get their act together. The more you show them you "care" the more it encourages them.
Original post by Brutal Honesty
I was reading this thread and surprise surprise there were plenty of apparently slim girls whining about how fat they are and taking the contradictory stance of knowing they shouldn't be worried about their weight but they still are. Defies all logic. Then they tell other girls they "look fantastic and have an amazing body and any guy would die to go out with you" whilst drowning in self pity about their own body. The UK is incredibly hypocritical in this regard, the same women who are constantly fussing over their weight, diet and body are the same women who tell others "beauty is in the inside". Eating disorders are the product of a superficial, vain lifestyle which is why middle class girls are the ones starving themselves so they can look like their heroes whereas in China and Japan the women are concentrating on important stuff like making the world a more prosperous, scientifically advanced place rather than spending hours flicking through glossy magazines.

I'd like to take this opportunity to give a :yy: to girls who don't make a big fuss about their appearance and constantly attention seek unlike the eating disorder society who seem to be full of narcissistic self indulgent queens who are willing to endanger their health to look sexually attractive.


I have an eating disorder. But it's not about how I look. It's about controlling and punishing myself with food. It's about learning to respect and love myself and my body. It's about learning that food is neither a weapon nor a comfort. It's about learning that I deserve to feel good about myself. It's not about looking sexually attractive. I don't care about that.

Oh, and I may have an eating disorder but I plan to help make the world a more 'scientifically advanced place'.
Reply 24
Original post by Brutal Honesty
They're mentally weak, big difference. If it were a mental illness why does it appear more often in superficial societies, such as the UK or US or in young, middle class women? Women in China aren't starving themselves to look like a coat hanger model. It's a form of attention seeking and vanity gone to extremes.


I doubt that this opinion is backed up by any form of research, but I personally believe that if you're going to become mentally ill in some way or another - maybe you've had a **** life, maybe you've got a chemical predisposition, maybe a bit of both - then the form this mental illness takes is affected by the values of the society around you. So there's probably a similar proportion of mentally ill people in all different countries, but the culture in the UK is such that it's more likely to take the form of an eating disorder than it is in somewhere where there isn't much food in the first place.

Original post by daisydaffodil
And the thing with attention seeking - even that's not what this is - I always try to think that there's a reason behind it; no-one seeks attention with no reason for doing so.


This. I hate people who are all 'oh, they're just attention-seeking'; anyone upset enough to hurt themselves/etc for attention has massive issues in the first place.

Original post by chinaberry
And about the eating disorder thing- well, I've had one (very mild) and I sort of agree. The mentally ill don't deserve sympathy. Doesn't make them bad people. It's just, why do they deserve it? They deserve understanding, but not a whole lot other than that.


:lolwut: Why would people with illnesses not deserve sympathy? Would you give sympathy to someone with a physical illness? If you would, then by extension you should to mentally ill people too; if you wouldn't give anyone sympathy under any circumstances then well, that says more about you than it does about ill people.
Ever had one? No? Then you have no idea what it is like. It is not about being vain, it is a constant voice in your head telling you you're not good enough and the only way to quieten it is to not eat/make yourself sick/binge eat.
Most people care about what they look like, most people look in the mirror before they go outside.
Eating disorders are mental illnesses, they **** with people's heads, they ruin their lives, they kill.
You are an ignorant little boy who knows nothing about the real world.
(edited 13 years ago)
Original post by Daniel-Ballingall

Original post by Daniel-Ballingall
Eating Disorder is a mental illness; which is not something you choose to have. You've clearly never met someone with an eating disorder before...

Ignorance is bliss.


Actually I have and I know if that particular person grew up in Tibet they wouldn't be starving themselves to look "pretty". I know they perceive their body differently but that's a product of a self-indulgent lifestyle and an over-evaluation of their body.
Oh, and there is a difference between SYMPATHY and EMPATHY. A lot of you need to learn the difference.
Original post by Brutal Honesty
Eating disorders are the product of a superficial, vain lifestyle which is why middle class girls are the ones starving themselves so they can look like their heroes whereas in China and Japan the women are concentrating on important stuff like making the world a more prosperous, scientifically advanced place rather than spending hours flicking through glossy magazines.

I'd like to take this opportunity to give a :yy: to girls who don't make a big fuss about their appearance and constantly attention seek unlike the eating disorder society who seem to be full of narcissistic self indulgent queens who are willing to endanger their health to look sexually attractive.


I feel i ought raise the difference between despising and complaining about ones own figure (because though others dont need to be perfect, what insecure girl doesnt seek perfection in herself!?) and people who develop eating disorders which are far more serious.

Everyone I know with a serious eating disorder is NOT the magazine girl, she doesnt see pictures and want to be them.
They are usually the incrediably bright, athletic people who either begin to associate food negatively as a form of unconcious self punishment (essentially self harming due to trauma in their lives) or begin to see fat as a sign of weakness and in an attempt to prove themselves, they push beyond their max and usually dont recognise their deterioration till its too late.

Eating disorders are, to me, not a sign of fashion but a sign of the increasing pressures faced by children and teenagers as well as adults.

As for the middleclass comment, well, i dont know statistics regarding that but if it were true, i would consider it to be a symptom of entrapment... ww2, shellshock was seen to be more prominent in the men who sat and waiting in the zepplins than in the men who went out and fought in fighter planes... I do think that, when ones life is meant to be perfect, trauma is internalised for the sake of society, leading to a sense of inactivity and powerlessness that means people begin to act out their anger and hate on themselves....
Original post by ~ Purple Rose ~
Ever had one? No? Then you have no idea what it is like. It is not about been vain, it is a constant voice in your head telling you you're not good enough and the only way to quieten is to not eat/make yourself sick.
Most people care about what they look like, most people look in the mirror before they go outside.
Eating disorders are mental illnesses, they **** with people's heads, the ruin their lives, they kill.
You are an ignorant little boy who knows nothing about the real world.


Clearly you don't understand it very well either. The voice in your head didn't come out of nowhere, it's a product of the society you grew up in. If you grew up in a society with no TV, magazines etc. would you have that voice telling you you're not good enough? BTW just to clarify the voice is telling you your body/the way you look isn't good enough rather than other aspects of you.
And I have no respect for ignorant people like you.

Eating disorders are mental illnesses. They are no less traumatic or dangerous than physical ones. Did you know that around 10% of people with Anorexia die within ten years of the onset of the disorder? Mental illness kills. Do you have no sympathy for people with cancer, either?
Reply 31

Original post by a_t
even a place at cambridge?


Well played.
Original post by kerily

Original post by kerily
People with eating disorders are mentally ill, not trying to look sexually attractive. They're not doing it because they want to seek attention, they're doing it because they're mentally ill. You cannot blame people for having an illness.


I completely agree. This summed up everything I was going to say on this thread. Well said.
Reply 33
:smile:
Reply 34
Original post by Brutal Honesty
I was reading this thread and surprise surprise there were plenty of apparently slim girls whining about how fat they are and taking the contradictory stance of knowing they shouldn't be worried about their weight but they still are. Defies all logic. Then they tell other girls they "look fantastic and have an amazing body and any guy would die to go out with you" whilst drowning in self pity about their own body. The UK is incredibly hypocritical in this regard, the same women who are constantly fussing over their weight, diet and body are the same women who tell others "beauty is in the inside". Eating disorders are the product of a superficial, vain lifestyle which is why middle class girls are the ones starving themselves so they can look like their heroes whereas in China and Japan the women are concentrating on important stuff like making the world a more prosperous, scientifically advanced place rather than spending hours flicking through glossy magazines.

I'd like to take this opportunity to give a :yy: to girls who don't make a big fuss about their appearance and constantly attention seek unlike the eating disorder society who seem to be full of narcissistic self indulgent queens who are willing to endanger their health to look sexually attractive.


I guess you haven't seen or known about the increasing number of Chinese/Japanese/Korean people have surgery to look like this:
Original post by Brutal Honesty

Original post by Brutal Honesty
Clearly you don't understand it very well either. The voice in your head didn't come out of nowhere, it's a product of the society you grew up in. If you grew up in a society with no TV, magazines etc. would you have that voice telling you you're not good enough? BTW just to clarify the voice is telling you your body/the way you look isn't good enough rather than other aspects of you.


If eating disorders are a product of environment, how come you're attempting to blame the individual? I don't see much logic there.
Original post by kerily

:lolwut: Why would people with illnesses not deserve sympathy? Would you give sympathy to someone with a physical illness? If you would, then by extension you should to mentally ill people too; if you wouldn't give anyone sympathy under any circumstances then well, that says more about you than it does about ill people.


There are TONS of people under hardship. I think they deserve understanding, like I said, which isn't something to be given lightly, you know. Sympathy is something different- it meddles with empathy too- and I think people are too quick to say they feel sympathetic towards something. I don't automatically feel sympathy towards all people who are "mentally ill". Each case should be taken individually. If I may use myself as an example again- I don't want any sympathy for my "mental illness", for the label. I will accept sympathy for the suffering it causes me (let's go for the dramatics). But AS is not entirely characterised by suffering, right? Of course I will feel something for people who are very unhappy. But I'm not talking solely about anorexia, but about this thing of "mental illness" (quoting from other people mean btw, not belitting it) which has become an umbrella term. Some people enjoy this "illness" or it profits them or whatever.

And to people trying to elevate eating disorders to this ethereal hightened state: yes, it does start out as you trying to make yourself more attractive. Most stem from the development of body dysmorphia. It doesn't make it any the less serious or shallow. Some very big things grow from little niggling troubles. Source doesn't determine the end, etc.
Reply 37
Original post by Brutal Honesty
Actually I have and I know if that particular person grew up in Tibet they wouldn't be starving themselves to look "pretty". I know they perceive their body differently but that's a product of a self-indulgent lifestyle and an over-evaluation of their body.


Yeah. One person I know with anorexia/bulimia is a class-A ****er who is incredibly materialistic, arrogant, racist, homophobic and closed-minded. The thing is, just because you know that one person with an eating disorder is a product of an over-indulgent, middle-class lifestyle doesn't mean that everyone with an eating disorder is.

Besides, where do you put people who compulsively overeat or binge-eat? They also have an eating disorder - are you seriously saying they do that to be 'sexually attractive'? :rolleyes:
Original post by Brutal Honesty
They're mentally weak, big difference. If it were a mental illness why does it appear more often in superficial societies, such as the UK or US or in young, middle class women? Women in China aren't starving themselves to look like a coat hanger model. It's a form of attention seeking and vanity gone to extremes.

**** it, I'll bite.

And you know this how? People in Asia have a lower reported rate of mental illness, yes, ok I'll give you that one. Why? Because mental illness in Asia is such a taboo that it's rarely spoken about and most people would rather kill themselves or starve to death than go to a doctor about it (and their families would feel the same). Western culture, whilst having a long way to go in terms of acceptance for the mentally ill, is far far more supportive and advanced than the Asian countries are in this area. It's incredibly easy to argue that an eating disorder is a Western culture bound phenomenon as our society dictates that you have to beautiful to be successful. In the third world and Asia etc. the social pressures are more on getting married, raising a successful family or progressing intellectually.
Original post by bacforever3

Original post by bacforever3
I feel i ought raise the difference between despising and complaining about ones own figure (because though others dont need to be perfect, what insecure girl doesnt seek perfection in herself!?) and people who develop eating disorders which are far more serious.

Everyone I know with a serious eating disorder is NOT the magazine girl, she doesnt see pictures and want to be them.
They are usually the incrediably bright, athletic people who either begin to associate food negatively as a form of unconcious self punishment (essentially self harming due to trauma in their lives) or begin to see fat as a sign of weakness and in an attempt to prove themselves, they push beyond their max and usually dont recognise their deterioration till its too late.

Eating disorders are, to me, not a sign of fashion but a sign of the increasing pressures faced by children and teenagers as well as adults.

As for the middleclass comment, well, i dont know statistics regarding that but if it were true, i would consider it to be a symptom of entrapment... ww2, shellshock was seen to be more prominent in the men who sat and waiting in the zepplins than in the men who went out and fought in fighter planes... I do think that, when ones life is meant to be perfect, trauma is internalised for the sake of society, leading to a sense of inactivity and powerlessness that means people begin to act out their anger and hate on themselves....


These same pressures exist in other countries, in fact far more pressure. British women get off lightly compared to some of the pressures women in third world countries have to go through yet the rate of eating disorders in those countries are far lower. Also it varies depending on culture, Indian and Chinese women in the UK/USA are on average wealthier than the general population, are higher achievers academically and career wise yet have much lower rates of anorexia/bulimia than middle class white women. They live in the same society we do, live a successful, high pressure life yet don't go insane or worry about their body in such extreme ways. Why? The key difference between the groups is upbringing.

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