The Italian edition of Vogue has launched a campaign to stamp out pro-anorexia websites.
"There are thousands of these sites and blogs which don't just support this evil, but push young people into competition over their physical shape," said Franca Sozzani, Vogue Italia's editor-in-chief.
In her blog, in which she announced a petition calling for legislation to close down such sites, she said they "provide a kind of open confessional, supporting those who are unable to carry on by themselves along a road that can only lead to death".
The tragic consequences of anorexia nervosa were highlighted last November when a French model, Isabelle Caro, died at the age of 28. Caro posed for an anti-anorexia poster, in a shock photograph taken by the Italian photographer Oliviero Toscani.
The campaign is not Vogue's first initiative in the area of eating disorders. In 2009, it emerged that the editor of the British version of Vogue, Alexandra Shulman, had written to designers accusing them of sending fashion magazines ever smaller garments for photo-shoots, thus forcing them to hire models "with jutting bones and no breasts or hips".
Hm... I don't really think Vogue is in any place to comment, considering Anna Wintour hasn't had anything more sustaining than ice chips since 1979.
Also, when you consider the pandering to gay (read: enamored with the look of thin young boys) designers, fashion magazines are not going to be the ones to make the change. It will have to come from the models, straight designers, couture whores and female designers. I know it sounds homophobic, but having men who love the look of men design for women is disastrous. It's also why eating disorders are so prevalent among young gay men, too. The expectation of perfection - jutting bones and all.
Anyway, are these sites really lethal? I don't think so. Sure, there are tips and tricks, but they really don't benefit (or destroy) anyone who is already in the grip of a mental disease. Shit like that is for the fat chicks who are looking for a crash diet before their trip to Jamaica. You can't "catch" anorexia.
On the other hand, does it encourage the ravaged to carry on down their path? Tough call. I know I hang out on a couple of sites, and am shocked by how young some of the sufferers are. 12, 13, 14... Jesus. But do they have anyone else to talk to? Is their school counselor just going to recommend ritalin, and be done with it?
There aren't enough doctors with the training to deal with ED's, or parents who give a shit. Many parents bring these diseases on in their kids by not giving them the love and attention they need. Dad left and mom works = kid is alone and scared. And lots of kids with absent/disinterest parents fall into the grips of "cults" or "gangs" that can harm them. Perhaps some of these sites are like that. But I've also seen a lot of love, too. "You are strong and beautiful" is reinforcement these kids should be getting from their parents, not from a message board. Yet there it is. When was the last time one of these girls (or boys) heard that from someone at home?
