So I used to run a thinspo blog on tumblr. It wasn't big, just over 1,000 followers. I have just found out that it has now been terminated. I can understand why the people who run tumblr saw it as a good idea to remove everything thinspo related. However on the other side I do believe it has taken something away from a lot of people. Tumblr is a way for people who are struggling with this mental disorder to speak to others. It is a lifeline for support and encouragement as well as a way to express themselves and vent. When you have an eating disorder you have hundred upon thousands of thoughts that you cannot express to anyone, not even you’re closest loved ones. This obsession can consume your whole mind but we spend so much time trying to push it aside to focus on work, school and our social life. Tumblr allows people the ability to finally express what they keep secret out of shame and fear of judgement.
Not only do I see taking this away as a shame, nor do I even believe that being exposed to thinspiration can cause an eating disorder. I feel that taking away people’s chance to even engage with this perspective, to even see the world from this person’s point of view completely erases the chance for others to understand what they are going through.
My entire family will never know what I have been through. My now ex-followers were people who probably could have related to many of the thoughts, and feelings that I expressed there, at least they would know they are not alone. But now no one can know what I have been through, I can’t reflect upon my past to how far i’ve come. It’s gone. The only recording of the years of suffering that has taken place in my mind is completely erased. And of course no one cares. It doesn’t matter if this has hurt me.