Seventeen Article

[beekers]

Moved from A/B Recovery to Current Events


Hello :fishy 's and :bowl

:trigger I'm putting the trigger sign because I think there might be chance that this post could be off putting, contains potentially triggering subject matter from mainstream magazine

I have just read a very strange and somewhat upseting article in this months Seventeen. The cover features Selma Blair, and in the article she talks about alot of stufff, but her physical appearance and the rumors about a possible ED do come up. In the segment about her weight she says, "I'm the first to say I have no apologies if I get thin. Yeah, maybe sometimes I'm stressed and don't have much room for the bad doughnuts I like to eat, but unfortunately I'm probably at my healthiest when I'm my thinnest." I'm not really sure what to make of this comment. All I know is that it was very interesting to hear her talking about how much she eats in comparison to others (which is how emotionally I feel all the time, when if I look at it rationally I'm not conusming more then everyone) and two why would Seventeen publish a quote like that? The quote could easily be taken as saying that we all are at our healthiest when we're underweight or losing weight, or super skinny (which Selma Balir is) which medically is definitely not true. Whether or not Selma Blair has an eating disorder or not, is not the point, this article/quote is potentially triggering and dangerous to young women and teenagers, with or without EDs. It just reaks of the "idealized," Hollywood/Fashion Magazine, mainstream, waifish imagery/retoric that is inundating women around the world. We all know how influential pop icons and celebrities can be at any age, let alone during teen years. It just seems a little careless/inconsiderate on behalf of Seventeen. This is just my take on it, and I was wondering if anyone else had read the article and had the same, different or a new take on it. So, a penny for your thoughts.... :kick
beekers

[Rayneonthemoon]

I haven't read the article, but I can definatly see how it could be potentially damaging to young women who read it. The media/hollywood is stuck on "thin is way in" and it really portrays a sour picture to the rest of us out here in the real world. It's sad!
Because we all strive to look better, because that's what society says we should look like. When in reality, it's so offbase.
Definatly a topic that stirs up feelings.
Thanks for posting,
Love

[SavingSelf]

I agree with you about your concerns.

Her comment makes no sense to me because I can't make a direct correlation between being thin and being healthy. It definitely reinforces the stereotype of the thin Hollywood ideal.

Karley

[lovtophish]

I'm confused about this quote. Selma Blair's weight has always fluctuated. She said she's healthiest when she's at HER thinnest. Her thinnest and an ED sufferers thinnest are not necessarily the same thing. I agree that the comment could be triggering to someone with an ED if we allow it to validate our desire to be thin. It's up to the person reading the quote to decide how they will let it affect them.

Steph

[JenRebekah]

Write to Seventeen's editor....maybe if enough people complain they'll print something to make it alittle better in the future......Be proactive in the fight against eds!!! :grin

[Anonymous_Member003]

Funny. She says she doesn't have an ED, but her weight "always fluctuates" and she feels the healthiest when she is at her lowest weight. And she notices what she eats and compares that to others. All things that people with ED's do. One plus one equals...two?

About the weight thing, though. I think it was irresponsible of Seventeen to print that quote. I can just see girls reading it and thinking okay, i would be healthy if I lost twenty lbs, and then going from there. You know? It's not the fact that she's healthy because she's at her lowest weight, it's the fact that she is healthy because she TAKES CARE OF HERSELF, is FIT, EATS PROPERLY, etc.

As usual Hollywood has it ass backwards.

[Vicks]

um. I jsut was interviewed for a video about eds treatment and the funny thing is. Is that the company is affiliated with Jane and seventeen magazines. I will have to let my therapist no so he can tell the producers this ironic twist. The producer actually wanted to use some things from their magazines, but I guess it is difficult because of copy right issues. I think the article was in a small way yes irresponsible, basically because the audience is young, and those comments when rad in their true form by eyes, that just read and don't analyze, well I think dno't set a good example.

Vicks *(vcitoria)

[Alexandra]

Hi,

I agree somewhat with Steph (lovtophish). To me the quote, "Yeah, maybe sometimes I'm stressed and don't have much room for the bad doughnuts I like to eat, but unfortunately I'm probably at my healthiest when I'm my thinnest," means that when Selma is at her thinnest, she is not eating junk food and for that reason - the lack of junk food - she is at her healthiest. She isn't healthy because she is thin, but rather because she isn't eating junk food, and she becomes thin because of the lack of calories from the junk food. Considering that stress is what makes her not eat, she may not be at the utmost of her potential health, but her body doesn't need to digest chemicals and in that sense she is healthy, and of course she needs to eat nutritious foods to maintain that health. It is up to the reader how that statement will be interpreted, and to realize that starvation does not create health.

Lilly

[Vicks]

I am huge on personal responsibility. But in this case the magazine is geared towards teens. Teens don't neccesssarrily think about things in such deep analytical ways. I think it was irresponsible, because of that. I dno't criticize magazines such as Shape, or Woman
s Worl because those magazines are not geared towards women, but a magazine geared towards young people has to have some responsibility.

[aliss]

:hugon beekers :hugoff

why don't you copy/paste this post into an e-mail message to seventeen magazine? as a reader you have a valid concern and should communicate it to the magazine... you already wrote it too...

:love,

a.

[dreya]

I saw the magazine at the bookstore today. Personally, I was more disturbed by the text on the cover of the magazine: "Are you tanorexic?" Inside the magazine, it talked about "tanorexia" (people who go to tanning booths a lot). What were they thinking? "Aren't we clever - let's minimize the seriousness of eating disorders by comparing it to getting a bad sunburn!"

[SanFran]

Yeah, I saw the interview with Selma, and I was a bit triggered by what she said about being healthiest at her thinnest. I do think it was irresponsible for Seventeen to print this quote.

And I also so that business about "tanorexia". By using EDs in this sort of joking way, they're making them seem normal and not a big deal. I mean, what, is "tanorexia" going to become the next big mental illness? I think not.