For Monday, Nov. 8, please read Mim Udovitch's "A Secret Society of the Starving" in the Presence book, page 556.
Pick one of the "non-scholarly" sources the author uses and write a 200-word memo about its effectiveness. Does it do a good job of supporting what the author is trying to get across? If so, how? If not, why?
A source he uses is a girl whose user-name on a pro E.D. website is Chaos. It does a very good job supporting what the author is trying to get across. He is trying to show people the secret world of eating disorders and the horrors about girls who think its a trend and cool to do. Chaos shows the horrific part of eating disorders that he is trying to get people to realize. The way he gets info is from interviewing this women. This is a personal level of getting information. A lot of times that hits people home and gets them to realize what an author is trying to say. When he uses actual accounts of people suffering from eating disorders it proves that it is not something that is blown out of proportion or falsified. It really shows the reader this is actually happening, it is real. The interview with her as well as other girls on pro E.D. websites support what he wants people to know very well. We can all agree that we have heard so much about eating disorders and how its bad and blah blah blah. It is something that we all learn about in high school and middle school.So when another person tries to tell us about it again, you just do not feel like reading it because you think"Omg, Ive heard this all before". However, in this reading, he really uses the interviews to the fullest advantage to get people into it and really think about it. An example is when they talk about how most people with eating disorders inflict pain on themselves, whether cutting or some other way. When he talks to Chaos and FutureBird, he talks about a picture showing Chaos's arm sliced up, with more wounded flesh than skin. That really supports what the author is trying to get across and really throws it in the reader;s face.
ReplyDeleteThe author stated a website that read the, "Thin Commandments." These include: "if thou aren't thing, thou aren't attractive"; Being thin is more important than being healthy"; thou shall not eat without feeling guitly"; thou shall not eat fattening food without punishing thyself afterword"; and "being thin and not eat are signs of true willpower and success." some looney tune posted these commandments on a website to get in these poor girls' heads. im guessing that the creater of this website is either anorexic or belimic and the only way this person can feel better about themselves is too get other girls too do the same thing to make it seem more acceptable. this supports the text well because websites like these are poisening the minds of girls who are struggling with getting thin, and making them believe it is ok to do it the unhealthy way. some people are nuts.
ReplyDeleteWhen the story states that girls “posting things like: ‘I can’t take it anymore! I’m fasting! I’m going out, getting all diet soda, sugar-free gum, sugar-free candy and having myself a 14 day fast. Then we’ll see who is the skinny girl in the family!’” This quote helps tell the story more because you get an inside of what the girls think. Also, this quote explains the issues that many girls and women go through, just to feel happier with themselves. It is sad to think that these girls are starving themselves just to be the skinny girl. The website provides the opportunity for them to get better, but they just want to be skinny. I do not understand how a girl can go fourteen days with out eating anything, or just eating sugar free junk food. If that was me, I would not be able to survive. I have to eat something every three hours and the way to become thin but still healthy is by eating healthy foods and exercising. This website provides a way for the girls to become back to normally, and shows withdraws these girls are going through from being in this program. The way that they just want to go back to the way they used to be.
ReplyDeleteOne source the author used that i thought was very interesting was the clinical director of the renfrew center of philidelphia, an eating disorder treatment facilty. Ellen davis said. "whats the big deal? It's like a diet gone bad" I find this statement to be very contridicting because the lady is the director of an eating disabiltiy clinic, and she has no idea about the disease. How can someone help you with your problem if they do not know what it is, or even think its not that significant. The author comes back to say that "It is so different from that".They say women with an eating disorder fall into the abyss, and without help will never come out. In the end, the source was not effective because they didnt know what they were talking about. But the author knew what they were talking about so he made it effective. This got one of the authors points across about how the disease really is not taken that seriously, and alot of people do not understand it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Iceskater. The quote ‘I can’t take it anymore! I’m fasting! I’m going out, getting all diet soda, sugar-free gum, sugar-free candy and having myself a 14 day fast. Then we’ll see who is the skinny girl in the family!’” is a very strong indication of how far some people will go to gain happiness. Just to be accepted in life some females beleive that they need to be "Hollywood hot" i disagree. When girls put on a pound of make up and a whole can of hairspary to look good, end up looking either semi good or a 5 dollar marriage ender.All over France and Europe, females are being stressed to the max about looks, due to huge billboards everywhere and models staring at you everywhere you go. This can cause the worst and strongest diet cases and even death amounts. You dont have to look like the Victoria Secrets girls ( what is her secret?) to be accepted in life. Starving yourself and looking like a mummy isnt attractive and never will be in my opnion. This website is a very helpful place and i mite recommend it to some of my real life freinds who do this to themselfs.Its a hard world out there, its just not hard for a pimp, its hard for the ladies also, noted.
ReplyDeleteOne part that really got across to me, which was similar to kelsi's was ; "Being thin and not eating are signs of true willpower and success." This is ridiculous to post on the internet where young, insecure girls are capable of reading it. Being thin and starving yourself is not a sign of success! It's a sign of being unconfident and having to hurt yourself to feel better. This supports the text really well because young girls are going to be curious when surfing the web, and if they come across a chat room or website like this it sticks in their heads. Soon they will get the wrong ideas about themselves, become insecure, and surrender to a life-threatening disorder.
ReplyDeleteAnorexia and bulimia to me are bad ways to get skinny. It destroys your body. I read theses “thinspirational” quotes: “You can never be too rich or too thin”; “Hunger hurts but starving works”; “Nothing tastes as good as thin feels”; “The thinner, the winner!”
ReplyDeleteThese quotes would get a young, naïve girl into saying “Hm. Well if you put it that way, it can’t be too bad.” When the reality is, is that it will destroy you. Sure, it’ll make you feel better about yourself, but it will kill you. You are not a winner if you are thinner. Okay, yeah, some guys like thin girls, but not skeletons. To me, very thin girls are unattractive to me. I’m not saying gorge yourself with food, no. But I am saying you can be thin AND healthy. Being anorexic or bulimic is not healthy at all.
This supports the text well because young girls will go online, see these quotes, and think they are doing the right thing. They will continue to do that because they’ll say to themselves these quotes to push them through it, when all their doing is hurting themselves physically and emotionally. I feel bad for women who have these disorders. I know that those methods of losing weight aren’t the way to go. I just wish they’d know that as well.
One thing that the author brought up was about Claire. Claire was the 18 year old from Florida. She lives and everyday life of a high school teen. She plays two sports and is involved with different kinds of found-raisers. What was really interesting is that it goes on to say how how she is also anorexic, and how it is an everyday thing for her. She goes on to say how exercise can only do so much for you, and she thought that being anorexic couldn't be that bad for you. She uses the name Claire because its short for Clairegirl, which is the name that she uses for a website. The website also includes other people who are anorexic, or bulimic. It just goes to show you that anyone could have an eating disorder. It just goes to show you that anyone could have a eating problem.
ReplyDelete