For my proposal for my Pinterest related documentary, I've decided to focus on the topic of Thinspiration on Pinterest and how it affects people and can open up a world of eating disorders. I've chosen this topic because it has affected my best friend and other people that I know well in my life. If you are wondering what Thinspiration is… It's basically a combination of the words "thin" and "inspiration." Thinspiration. Another word for thinspiration is "thinspo," which is basically just an abbreviation of thinspiration.  I'll use the names interchangeably Thinspiration is the inspiration to become thinner. To clarify: thinspiration is usually defined as a image of a really fit or thin person. Someone with the body that you might want. Thinspiration could also be images of girls who were the extreme opposite of what you would want to be, for example, girls who might be extremely overweight. Those images are supposed to scare you into not being like what they might be. Another known way for one to create thinspiration for themselves would be to keep a photograph journal containing pictures of your body. Sometimes that's enough to keep one going.  Thinspiration could be inspiration to keep up perhaps your fitness routine, your diet, or to continue your eating disorder. I think thinspo creates a really unrealistic goal for people, because when you have an eating disorder, it seems like you can't be satisfied. I feel like when you have an eating disorder, you have it because you have a goal you want to get to, but when you reach your desired weight… It might end up not being good enough, and you might not get the outcome you desired, so in turn, you might want to keep losing more weight.

Thinspiration also has a deeper context. It is something that many people with eating disorders use for encouragement in their efforts to become thinner.  My best friend has struggled with her eating disorder for 3 years now and it's affected us both us in extremely negatively ways. It kills me to see her struggle with her weight and I think thinspiration enables a lot of girls and guys alike to keep going with their eating disorder. Like I said, thinspo creates a huge gateway and driving force for people with eating disorders to keep going and stay inspired in a negative way. When you look at thinspo, the whole point is to look at it and hope to see yourself as they are. The way you get to it is usually in an extreme way. It could be through extreme exercising, which is exercising in an unhealthy way by not eating before working out or after, or working out for extreme amounts of time. Another way you might try to lose weight are also through the more "traditional" and well known ways of losing weight in an unhealthy way such as binge and purging, and extreme dieting. Thinspo is a really serious problem, and Pinterest has a huge market for it. Pinterest creates a greater outlet for the thinspiration to spread. However, I did read some articles on how Pinterest is trying to regulate thinspo boards and posts, but there is only so much you can do. If you have an eating disorder, removing all posts clearly labeled under "thinspo" won't be enough to stop thinspo posts and eating disorders from continuing. The posts will keep coming, there will just be another word for it and eating disorders will continue to happen.

P.S. Please don't grade this too harshly… I had a hard time processing thoughts properly when writing this. Long week.