Okay.  Let’s get our facts straight here.
Princess Beatrice is perhaps one of the least fashion-forward young women in royal circuits.  (Note the butterfly-themed hat she wore to her brother’s wedding – yikes…) 
And she’s a constant club-hopper who hasn’t yet learned how to turn it on for the papparrazzi and give a “good” shot, even if it’s the wee hours of the morning.  (That’s bound to come.) 
But all this doesn’t give the press the right to nag her about her weight.
Recent photos of her romping on the beach in a skimpy bikini aroused the ire of plenty of tabloidites who ridiculed her size 10 …read more

I can remember an interesting survey I heard about some time ago… 
A bunch of kids (they were quite young — perhaps 5 and 6) were asked if they would rather be fat or lose a limb (or some such nonsense.)  They predominantly chose losing a limb over having too much weight on their frames.
Now, that’s just horrible. 
First of all, who would ask kids such a question?  And secondly, why equate being “fat” with the horror of losing a limb? 
(Incidentally, I cannot find the original report — if you can, please comment and send the link.  I’m not sure I …read more

I’m alarmed when I read that girls are developing eating disorders as young as five or six… that seems such a stretch.  I was the typical “teen anorexic” — exactly what you’d expect, really.
I’m curious — when did you start your relationship with Ana (or Mia)? 

First of all, thinspiration (or thinspo) is used by pro-ana and pro-mia advocates around the world and provides vision cues to them to stop eating.  Pictures of rail-thin women and guys are plastered around the web, ostensibly to give willpower to anorexics and bulimics.
Of course, all pro-recovery sites like Breaking the Mirror talk about the dangers of thinspo.  That’s nothing new.
But could thinspiration be truly useful in some situations?  I mean, people without eating disorders tend to use “thinspiration”, too. 
For instance, a gal who wants to return to her pre-pregnancy weight may put pics of her years ”before kids” around the house as …read more

If you’re not from the “world” of eating disorders, you might think that all disordered eaters treat one another the same.
Not so.
You see, like any other “clique”, those with EDs have a caste system, a heirarchy of sorts.  It’s not usually discussed, but it definitely exists. 
Allow me to explain (and feel free to let me know if any of this has changed recently or if I’m missing something)…

I only wish this were a joke.
On the web, there are underground programs and “schools” (loosely defined) of pro-ana and pro-mia supporters that, in essence, claim to help and support the anorexic, bulimic or EDNOS sufferer who does not want to get better.
Yes, these “thinstitutes” (my word) of ana/mia education are available.  And many of them have strict policies on who is allowed to become a “student”.  (I think they are concerned that people like myself might try to infiltrate their societies, which, I admit, is a legitimate worry from their point of view because I’ve considered doing so many times.)
Thinspiration …read more

I admit it.  I’m no longer a geek, at least not a techno one.  (Book smart, tech so-so.)  How do I know this?  I just recently found out about “Second Life“, the virtual 3D “world” where people can do just about anything they want — buy islands (using “linden”, the currency in “Second Life”), have affairs, raise families.
So it was with this fascinating knowledge that I began to muse — could there be a pro-ana contingent in “Second Life”?  Are there anorexics running around the virtual world, with skeletal avatars?  How about bulimics?  Or those with binge eating disorders?
If any …read more

It seems that Mia, Ana’s sister (or step-sister… or sister-in-law… or… whatever) has decided that she, too, needs to have a presence on PostSecret.  (You may recall the previous times that Ana graced PostSecret – if not, check out this Breaking the Mirror post as well as this one for links.)
Take a gander at Mia’s PostSecret postcard now.

In a rather unsurprising announcement, Ashlee Simpson has admited that she ONCE had an eating disorder.
That’s once upon a time, people.
Long time ago.
Way long.
She doesn’t have it now.
Of course.
See, no celeb wants to admit to HAVING an eating disorder.  Sure, they are more-than-happy to be seen as gals and guys who overcame anorexia, bulimia, EDNOS, you name it.  But a full-blown case of Ana-itis? 
No way. 
I’m waiting for a celeb to finally stand up and say, “Hey, you know what?  Last night, I ate a gallon of ice cream, a pizza, a box of licorice, a quart of milk, two packages of cookies… …read more

It’s tough to feel okay about yourself if you’re living in a house that’s cluttered with magazines whose covers sport celebs who would make even Ana herself feel overweight. 
But is a thinspiration-free home really possible?
Though I think it would be difficult to completely rid your residence of anything that could be considered thinspiration, my guess is that with the following “tweaks”, you could make your home-sweet-home a place where you don’t feel judged:

Remove any magazine, pamphlet, brochure, guide, et cetera that features unbelievably thin models/actors/singers from your sight.  For good measure, shred it.  You’ll feel good. 
Turn off the television unless it’s a program …read more