Why is No-l-ita Offering No-Information for Sufferers?

After all this talk about the "No Anorexia" campaign, I decided to show you a picture of another nude model--me.

This is from a 1999 article in Glamour, when I first went public about my seven-year battle with bulimia. I was healthy when the photo was taken, but my body didn't look much different from when I was very sick. That's the thing about eating disorders. They don't always look so shocking.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about the No-l-ita ad campaign. First, it is of no surprise to me that the campaign comes from Oliviero Toscani. After all his years at Benetton, he has become known for this style. I think he is a great artist in his ability to increase the visibility of taboo topics. He has certainly gotten people talking with this uncomfortable, extreme image of a very sick anorexic. After Ana Carolina Reston's death last year and the declarations and recommendations of fashion councils around the world, I am glad to see the discussion continue. However, it saddens me to see that, yet again, the focus is on the extreme. Yes, sensationalism works and gets people's attention, but it's such a limited view of what eating disorders look like. I appeared on a few billboards when I was so ill and depressed I thought I would die. That desperation never showed up in the pictures, though.

Finally, publicity for the sake of it is, in my mind, very selfish, irresponsible and money-oriented. When I came out and talked publicly about my eating disorder, I didn't just want to put myself in the spotlight--I wanted to make sure that my story helped and served a purpose. That's why I searched for an organization that worked to raise awareness and helped people deal and get treatment. Whenever I talk about my own experience, I make sure that there are resources available for anyone who needs help. Since No-l-ita is taking on eating disorders as the face of their campaign, it would be thoughtful for them to give eating disorder resources on their website. When you see that billboard, what next? How about providing some information on the issue they're using to get attention? Controversy gets people buzzing. But let's make sure this is not a case of all talk and no action.

Note: We have written to No-l-ita, suggesting that they include health and referral information as part of their campaign. We have not received a response yet, but will keep you updated.

Related:
Fashion Statement: Oliviero Toscani
Has the "No Anorexia" Ad Become Pro-Ana Thinspiration?

Photo: Michael O'Neil

Has the "No Anorexia" Ad Become Pro-Ana Thinspiration?

The nude image of Isabelle Caro, a 27-year-old anorexic, is turning up on billboards all over Italy and spreading like wildfire over the internet. No-l-ita says they launched this campaign to "use advertising as an instrument to promote awareness of social evils." But many fear that while the image may shock most, it will likely be used as a source of "thinspiration" for those who frequent pro-ana websites, MySpace pages and message boards.

How could anyone strive to look like a startling picture of such serious illness? For starters, pro-anas are ill themselves. And they are looking for validation. Over at MamaVISION, there's an interesting debate going on. Shana, from the "post-pro-ana" site We Bite Back (an online community started by a former pro-ana who got tired of looking for thinspiration and decided to get healthy) had this to say:

"people turn to pro-ana because anorexia hurts like hell. and it hurts even more to think that what you are doing is twisted and sick and wrong and abnormal. so if they turn it around, make starvation holy, coveted and an ideal, it makes their illness almost a… talent. it’s a desperate attempt to feel good. and it can work, just very temporarily."

The image is shocking on its own. That's what severe anorexia looks like. Now imagine a girl or young woman who sees this ad and thinks, "I wonder how much she weighs. Do I have more 'fat' on my thighs? How long will it take before my ribs stick out like that?" For some, that's what anorexia feels like.

Related:
Fashion Statement: Oliviero Toscani
Why is No-l-ita Offering No-Information for Sufferers?

Girls Know What Girls Want

Calling all advertisers: Want to know what girls really think of your ads? Consult 3iYing. This "all-girl" agency has asked hundreds of teens and twenty-something young women to give their honest opinions about why most advertising completely misses the mark (and pisses off the target consumers in the process).

In a series of video and photo flips, girls take on the advertising industry and tell it like it is.

Maayan, 17, has a message for Godiva:



And Maria, 19, has some choice words for Close Up toothpaste:



The girls of the 3iYing also authored the "Girl Improved" column in Business Week, offering their take on the most common advertising mistakes and how to fix them. So now it's your turn. What ads would you flip?

[You Tube and Flickr] via [Jezebel]

Fashion Statement: Oliviero Toscani

Fashion photographer Oliviero Toscani is not one to shy away from controversy or shock tactics. Now he is taking on the anorexia epidemic in a new ad campaign picturing an emaciated anorexic with the tagline "No anorexia." The ad is sponsored by Italian clothing company No-l-ita and will be featured on billboards in many Italian cities--just in time for Milan Fashion Week. "I've been looking at the problem of anorexia for years. Who is responsible? Communication in general? Television? Fashion?" asked Toscano.

"So it is very interesting that in the end a fashion company has understood the importance of the problem, and with full awareness has found the courage to take the risk this campaign involves," he said in a No-l-ita press release.

While we don't think the media and the fashion industry are entirely responsible for causing anorexia, we are completely on board with the idea that they should take responsibility for promoting healthier images of beauty. The images in this ad clearly show what un-retouched anorexia looks like. No makeup. No designer clothes. No forgiving lighting. It's not pretty.

Toscani raises another important point, though. The industry does need to be aware of the gravity of anorexia. But what about other eating disorders? Public education campaigns (and celebrity tabloids for that matter) have long relied on the image of the emaciated anorexic because it is the most startling and visible of eating disorders. However, most sufferers do not wear their illnesses as skin and bones. Millions of people are caught up in dangerous, life-threatening eating disordered behavior. You wouldn't stop in your tracks if you saw their pictures on a billboard because they don't look skeletal. You wouldn't gasp or speculate about their health because they have pretty "normal" bodies. Too-skinny model spotting has practically become a media pastime, but there are plenty of curvier runway regulars who are suffering, too. [Reuters and AFP]

Related:
Has the New "No Anorexia" Ad Become Pro-Ana Thinspiration?
Why is No-l-ita Offering No-Information for Sufferers?

Our Top 3 Beauty Tips

1: Beauty Doesn't Guarantee Happiness
Everywhere you turn, the message is that physical beauty is the ultimate cure-all. It might seem like the perfect body or a flawless face would make life easier. Take it from us: that is one ugly lie. We both wasted countless hours obsessing about weight and making endless excuses to hide our secret behavior. In the end, we discovered that our disorders were masking much deeper problems--problems that had nothing to do with the numbers on a scale.

2: What You See Is Not What You Get
Stop comparing yourself to pictures in magazines. Seriously, stop it! You will never look as good as those models, because outside of the glossy universe, even the models don’t look that good. Thanks to the magic of retouching, the line between fantasy and reality is blurred just enough to make us all feel hopelessly insecure. Magali's B-cup bust was inflated to a D-cup for the cover of Cosmopolitan. Her waist has been trimmed, her teeth have been straightened, and her lips have been plumped-- all with a few clicks of a mouse. Perfection sells, and there are plenty of people buying. Here's the catch: there is no beauty product in existence that will work as well as Photoshop.

3: You Don't Have to Suffer in Silence
Sure, we're an unlikely pair, but our common experience has drawn us together. Millions of women and men share that experience. Eating disorders and body image issues have reached epidemic proportions. Plastic surgery rates have skyrocketed, and it seems like just about everyone is feeling the “makeover” pressure. We have met so many amazing, intelligent, compassionate people whose lives have been touched by these issues. Teachers, students, doctors, therapists, editors, stylists, agents, TV producers, the list goes on. We know that anyone can be affected, regardless of race, class, age, or gender. Reaching out is the first important step. Find your voice, and find help for yourself or someone you care about. You can’t do it on your own, but the good news is that you don’t have to.

The Spectrum of Disordered Eating

Iowa researcher Pamela Kessl is exploring a "new" eating disorder called purging disorder. Purging has long been associated with bulimia, but for the women in Kessl's study there is no bingeing--just purging after regular-sized meals or even a small snacks.

Patients with purging disorder face many of the same health risks of those suffering from bulimia. The illness is also linked to psychological problems and poor body image. Unfortunately, because purging disorder has not yet been quantified and codified (i.e. it falls outside of the criteria outlined in the Diagnostic Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders), it is difficult for doctors to screen and treat suffering patients. And forget about getting health insurance to cover treatment if your eating disorder happens to fall into a gray area. It's hard enough to get insurance companies to pay up when an eating disorder diagnosis is spelled out in black and white.

The bottom line is that we live in a culture of disordered eating. Pictures of emaciated actresses on the red carpet are quickly tagged with "Have these Stars Gone Too Far?" headlines. But the truth is that millions of us have gone too far, even if we don't have a doctor's diagnosis or a skeletal frame to prove it. Disordered eating comes in all shapes, sizes, and behaviors. Unhealthy obsessions and self-destructive rituals go unnoticed and untreated every day (or worse yet, they are validated and praised).

The epidemic of disordered eating or "eating disorders not otherwise specified" is being passed along to future generations of women, too:

A 2007 study of 70,000 schoolchildren in the U.K. shows that forty per cent of 14 and 15-year-old girls had either nothing or just a drink for breakfast. Many also went without lunch. Half of 12-15-year-old girls named their physical appearance as their biggest worry in life.

On a 2006 episode of Oprah, Oprah interviewed the mothers of a three-year-old who was obsessed with her looks and a 4-year-old who was terrified of gaining weight. It became quickly and painfully obvious that these women were battling their own body image demons.

This new research about purging disorder has sparked some important conversations and debate, but it also draws attention to a larger issue. How do we effectively diagnose and treat disordered eating when our culture's disordered attitudes about food and weight have become the norm?

Extreme Mommy Makeovers

So much for cocoa butter and stomach crunches. Now mommies who are dissatisfied with their post-baby bodies can pay a visit to their plastic surgeon, who, in Extra correspondent Dayna Devon's case, also happens to be her husband. Hey, he's loving his wife for who she is on the inside (literally) while making a few adjustments to what she looks like on the outside. Not many guys can claim that feat.

It seems that plastic surgery is fast becoming the hot new postpartum trend. “When I first started [my] program three years ago, I’d see two to three patients a month and now I see five to six patients a week,” says Dr. Mark Schusterman, founder of the aptly named Makeovers for Moms program at Houston's Aesthetic Plastic Surgery Center. He offers package deals on tummy tucks, breast lifts and laser surgeries for new moms.

On top of the astronomical costs (hopefully women aren't choosing new boobs over college funds) and health risks of these procedures, there's also the question of how much time these patients are giving their bodies to "bounce back" after giving birth before they sign up for surgery. Is our celebrity mom watch culture stirring up an unnecessary and accelerated panic? When women compare their new mom bodies to the airbrushed, overexercised, and yes, nipped and tucked images on every newsstand and gossip blog, is it any wonder more and more moms are rushing to go under the knife? [MSNBC]