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A Disgrace
"The only thing necessary for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing."
Edmund Burke
Hey All,
Now no need to even think that this will in anyway lubricate anyone's already open mind on this site but I just read an article in Sunday Independent's Life magazine.......and it's more than a f*cking disgrace.....
I'm still wondering whether the article - which was their cover story - was done for reaction's sake but I have a strong will inside to pull them up on their absolute and utter tripe, garbage, poison, noxious nonsense and absolute scum of the earth article......
If Life magazine did nothing but propagate a buy now pay for later society over the last ten years where a lifestyle of status, class and belt size were core vaules then their latest lifestyle choice is that of nurturing and fostering eating disorders, now bear in mind the same paper has ran numerous features on the disgrace that is pro-ana websites and in this recent feature the writer poses in a pair of skin tight hot pants by her fridge which is adorned with pictures of girls with protruding rib cages and collar bones.
Lines such as: Hey Fatties, Don't Hate Me coz I'm skinny and: Ireland's streets are filled with fat people with women with legs so large they waddle when they walk' fill up this vile feature.
They continue.....
'If you're fat with no genuine medical cause, I have no sympathy for you. You're lazy, you're making excuses and you're letting yourself down.'
'If Barack Obama can find time to exercise for an hour each morning before he runs the most powerful country in the world.'
And to be honest I'll leave it there and not give this tripe any more air time than it has already received.
Whilst I emailed Bodywhys last week alerting them to the usefullness and brilliance of this proactive website and was not furnished with a reply and whilst I am extremely slow to make my opinion known about well being as opposed to body shape I think this recent scum of a feature has been my catalyst to make my opinion known.
It's exactly this kind of article that keeps people with eating disorders in the dark - their opinion of themselves that they are lazy and glutonous and weak willed is reaffirmed by such well aired and fearlessly published and written articles, I am very very pleased with my opinion that is now the opposite of this and I think that the more that I keep this to myself or only air it here where people already have the same opinion as me then this nonsense will continue to be propagated.....
I can't tolerate this any further and whislt this article was clearly penned with peoples' outrage and reactions in mind I am not going to contact the paper or editor as they expect but going through the proper channels www.headline.ie where the HSE have established a media watchdog for all things mental health....whilst the paper may have wished to drum up some controversy and increase their circulation they will now be receiving a notification from a national body, it's not a laughing matter, labels do nothing to help anyone - not binge eating, not anorexia, not bulimia - well being is well being and well being is not contorting body shapes and highlighting hair and it'a about time this nonsense got put in the trash basket where it belongs and educated people speak up when they are ready and spread the message of reality, well being and understanding.
Joyce
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Comments
A message of support for the contributors to this post.
The conversation on this topic has been one of the more active posts on Iceberg; it is a difficult topic for many people and a recognised challenge for every one of us in recovery.
This comment is purely to show support and to acknowledge the Iceberg members who have been involved. I think it can safely be said that us Icebergers hold a unanimous opinion that the article in question is sensationalised and does not have the best interests of anyone suffering from ED at heart.
So, to Joyce, Carol, R., Michelle and C. thank you for providing some learning and some balanced perspective on what has otherwise been some difficult reading. Admiration to you all for getting involved in what is always a tough topic.
Iceberg Moderators :)
...a place away from the 'media today'...
Hi Carol,
I know that you don't agree with this article being put in the Indo magazine, of course, who would, it is sad that media still is that way. I am also not in any way angry with its author, more saddened, I guess. Angry more with the editors and the negativity they spread with this article; I fully and completely concur with Joyce and her brave and wonderful pro-active step.
My point of critique was the fact of putting a link of the article on iceberg.
I see your point of saying, that these kind of articles are around us everywhere all the time and that avoiding them doesn't help... but see, that's where I feel differently. Iceberg, for once, is thankfully a place where I can go and NOT BE BOMBARDED with articles like this. If I wanted to read them I could go on any other website and "indulge" in conditioned "literature". Secondly, I am a firm believer in that taking time out and actively avoiding any of these things for a while definitely does help. I for once took probably at least two years out, I didn't listen to the radio, barely watched tv, no news, no documentaries, no chat-shows, no magazines, nothing...because they angered me so much and being confronted with them didn't help at all in my recovery, in contrary, it threw me miles back, again and again.
Now I have slowly but surely gone back to allow more media into my life and I don't mind it that much any more.
So, my main point really was, and still is, exactly what the moderators pointed out in their post:
The article is not something that is in line with the aim of Iceberg and certainly not something Iceberg wishes to promote or assist by giving the content any additional publicity by linking to it.
Iceberg is a site for all stages of recovery and sometimes articles such as this one are not the healthiest reading material for those who are just starting out on the road to recovery.
I hope you understand this. As for the poor journalist...I hope she might find her way into the Marino Centre one day, to realise what life really is about.
Love,
xxx R. xxx
Be angry, but don't be a hypocrite...
Hi All,
Yes, that article was an absolute disgrace and I am not surprised everybody is so angry about it. Obviously this girl has a few issues of her own and I only pray that some day her worth will be more than her weight.
It has obviously fired up emotions here on Iceberg and everybody has the right to be angry with her views and opinions.
But... don't be a hypocrite! Don't sit here, outraged by this girl's way of thinking and then turn off your computer, back into the arms of your condition. Your condition probably holds some, if not all, of the views in this article. If this article angers you so much then GET ANGRY WITH YOUR CONDITION! If you are not willing to do this then, in my opinion, you have no right to complain because you are an active participant in this deadly way of thinking.
Be part of the cure, not the disease.
C.
being proactive...
Joyce...
This is superb...
Yes, I fully agree, the appropriate way to go against this "evil" is to BE PROACTIVE.
I had the same reaction to you with bodywyse... but by now I stand way over that. Media is another evil, something that I haven't quite managed yet to go against as I am always just so massively angry that I am losing my ability to formulate proper English sentences... and gobbledigook is not going to give the adwquate severity and power to my opinion...
I realise I react like a pressure cooker with these things at the moment...have to breathe and count to ten so often...
And yet...I know I do hold back so much because I do not want to use language that could fall back on me and the condition...
You are in your element there, writing, Joyce... Very very good, well done, fantastic, mrs journalist!!! :-) :-)
Love,
xxx R. xxx
Just ditto to everything you
Just ditto to everything you said Joyce. I knew i'd only get extremely angry with the article so i didn't read it. And i actually e-mailed the Independent about an article by Pat Fitzpatrick - someone who makes you wonder should they screen journalists if only for the purpose of establishing a realistic level of maturity - a few years ago to no avail, so you're dead right to go through the proper methods of communicating to these people WHO HAVE THE POWER TO POSITIVELY INFLUENCE THEIR READERS but just want money and so, they do whatever it takes to sell papers. Well done Joyce, i'll make a note of that site for future use. It's time to stop the madness and encourage the world to be happy.
Michelle x
Journalist with ED
The article from Life magazine, Sunday Independant 24th January 2010....
What matters is her ATTITUDE! Yikes when she was describing her school days, she made it out that she was morbidly obese or something; but I'm around 5'6 and weigh more than that "hefty" weight she used to be.
She does sound like me a few years ago... so I know how horrible it feels to skinny yet still insecure and blaming everybody else for her own issues.
I don't know if there are actually people who are truly "pro-fat"; if there are I think that they would be in the minority and in denial about health issues. Overweight people have feelings too!! They are well aware of their size- but not everybody is ready to face their true selves. Saying comments about fat people being lazy etc does not help. As she knows herself, overeating was her way of coping with stress in school.
C.
addition to my first comment...
Just another comment...
Sorry, I know the article was not really meant to be seen as good, I half take back what I said in my comment, but yet I don't, because I still feel the article itself is far too triggering and not good, so I don't think the link to it should be on here...maybe I'm too sensitive...
xxx R. xxx
TRIGGER???
Sorry there...
I think this article is a bit over the board and I also do not think it should be on iceberg... full of numbers and prejudices and behaviours and words that I certainly do NOT PROMOTE and am certainly trying not ever to use in any post.
I think it should be taken off, sentences like: "Don't hate me because I'm thin" or the repetition of Kate Moss's motivation phrase (paragraph 2) or her own motivation of sticking photos of models on her fridge... all these things are NOT conducive to recovery!!!
I urge the administrators to review this please and check the credentials of the person who sent it in. Otherwise, well, this is my opinion!
xxx R. xxx
Media Today
Hi R,
It's me, Carol who posted on the link. I posted the link in the context of a discussion on this site about the article called "A disgrace". Of course I didn't write it and definitely didn't want to trigger anyone's behaviours, but the reality of the world is that these types of articles pop up in the media all of the time. That's why we are encouraged in Marino to make collages, cutting out the nice things from newspapers and magazines as it trains us to look for the positive news and not be affected by the negative. I don't think that avoiding people who have such opinions does us any good either- the stereotype about being overweight exists- that's the reality of life right now. It is up to ourselves how we interpret them and how we react.
When we recover (and in my Buddhist practise), we learn that we have a wide variety of emotions and it's OK to use them. When some people read this article, they felt Anger. Anger is not necessarily a bad emotion which has to manifest in self-destruction- Anger can be used constructively to make changes e.g. writing to the editor of the magazine etc.
I absolutely do not agree with the journalists comments and do not agree that such an article should have been allowed to be published in a national newspaper. I don't feel point blank anger at this girl- I empathise with her as when I was very thin I would have went through a time of "feeling sorry" for people who are overweight. There are people who do not take responsibility for their Eating Distress and make excuses, but calling them lazy etc does not help! People do have free will and are entitled to their own opinion, but I don't think the Indo magazine realise how damaging that article can be to those who are struggling with their weight or feeling bad about their body image.
With love,
Carol
Moderator Decision
Hi All,
Following the series of comments in relation to this article, the Iceberg moderators have decided to remove the link to this article from the Iceberg site. Having read the article in full, we think that it is not sufficiently well informed and there is significant discussion of information which we have seen in the past to be detrimental in recovery. This is not something that is in line with the aim of Iceberg and certainly not something we wish to promote or assist by giving the content any additional publicity by linking to it.
We appreciate that not everyone will agree with this decision, we leave this post open for continued debate of the subject and thank everyone who has contributed so far. It is important to be able to discuss these difficult issues, they must be faced at some stage during recovery since we cannot hide from the media in our recovered lives. However Iceberg is a site for all stages of recovery and sometimes articles such as this one are not the healthiest reading material for those who are just starting out on the road to recovery.
We hope this explains the reason for our decision.
Iceberg Moderators
outrages
Hello Joyce – that article was written by a sick mind, absolutely outrages, people are dying from this condition, suffering for years and we are printing this poison on the cover of Sunday paper… what an ignorance…
Well done, love your quotation
I will write as well
Thank you
M.
There is always a solution…:):):)