Oh Pinterest… how I love thee… And at times I loathe thee…
You are such a great resource for HEALTHY recipes, tips and tricks, and motivational quotes.
However… Sometimes I get angry/disappointed/upset with the images I see pinned, liked and agreed with.
Like this one:
I love the words on this image:
skinny is not sexy. health is.
But…. Compared to a good 90% of us (me included) the model above is “skinny”. She’s muscular, has a body fat percentage that is VERY VERY difficult to obtain, is scantily clad, and is posing provocatively.
The image contradicts the words.
Also – how can you tell she’s healthy? Maybe she’s a pack a day smoker?
I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again… You can’t SEE healthy. Come back tomorrow and I will show you PROOF.
I agree whole heartedly! I pin some things that I love the quotes but it does bother me some of the images that aren’t attainable. I’ve BEEN there and KNOW its not realistic or healthy to maintain. competing in a fitness comp – I lost my cycle, had disordered eating thoughts, no energy, and it messed up my metabolism permanently.
Yea. So healthy.
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The more I look at that picture, the more I think there’s something weird going on with her waist, hips, and legs. Could be the pose, but possibly photoshopped to look smaller? Which is pretty f’d up.
I really hate this kind of motivational image. It’s just replacing one impossible ideal with another. Sure, she looks great, but does that mean she’s healthy? From my personal experience, when I was in my 20s and going to the gym a LOT, and eating clean, I still didn’t look like that. There were some stubborn fat pockets that just wouldn’t budge, and after some research it eventually became clear to me that if I wanted a fitness model perfect body, there were going to be drugs involved. Which doesn’t exactly scream healthy to me.
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AMEN! and I’m soooooooooooooooooo sick of people ragging on skinny people… my daughter is skinny..naturally and she gets stupid comments from people at school, even members of this family and it’s pure stupid! she’s HEALTHY and yet people want to crack jokes because she’s skinny (are they jealous cuz’ they’re not?!) but seriously…you can NOT see healthy…
frustrates me!!!!!!
oh and yes in my opinion I’d consider this model skinny…toned/muscular but still skinny…so yes contradicts itself and well let me get off this soap box before I go on….
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THANK YOU! Can I get an AMEN. That. Is. All. =)
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totally agree! i get frustrated because there are so many great quotes on pinterest but then the women in the images are either scantily clad or trying to hard to represent sexy instead of fit! so annoying.
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OMG. I love this. I agree 100%. Looking forward to seeing tomorrow’s post =)
Yes! Yes! Yes!!
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I agree with you! This picture really bothers me because of the words that it is associated with. I definitely would have picked a different picture. In my opinion, she is the definition of SKINNY NOT HEALTHY! (Although, she could be, like you said – I just SEE skinny when I look at her!). Thanks for sharing, and I will look forward to your post tomorrow too!
I love this post, especially what you said at the end: You can’t “see” healthy. It’s so easy to make assumptions about people/pictures by just looking at them, and obviously our society doesn’t help that any, but remembering that there is no one look to describe being healthy.
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THANK YOU! I have nothing to add. You said it all. Thank you!!!
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I totally agree. Healthy doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to look like a body builder. I am toned but also have some curves and recently had a full physical and blood work and had amazing results. Eating healthy and being physical doesn’t give everyone the same results…’healthy’ is more of a lifestyle and not an image.
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YES!!!!!
I had to share this because it’s so true!
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Thanks for sharing Amber! (PS – I love your name, my youngest daughter is also named Amber)
I agree with EVERYTHING you’ve said in this post but your title really threw me off. Skinny CAN be sexy. It’s time we stop determining whether or not being skinny or fat is sexy. Being “sexy” is all relative and can be based off of many variables and how we see ourselves individually. I know plenty of people who are considered “too skinny” yet they have perfectly fine healthy eating and working out habits. They just happen to have a different body type, and they’re perfectly happy with themselves. That confidence they have in spite of everyone telling them they’re too “skinny and must not be healthy” is what I find the sexiest.
You’ll like my post tomorrow – it’s very closely related to what you describe as sexy
…way to read between the lines on that image. It’s so true! Pinterest can be great for motivation and fitness inspiration but a lot of those women don’t look like the average or attainable picture of health…looking forward to tomorrow’s post!
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I’ve been meaning to post about this subject for a while now. There is a big difference between motivational photos and harmful photos on Pinterest. I will make sure to link to you when I get my post up!
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[...] Written on February 25, 2012 by Janice in Motivation Pin It This week I’ve been hating on Pinterest over images that people pin that encourage thinness rather than being HEALTHY, images such as this [...]
well the appearance mostly describe the health condition if he was in good/bad shape, and most important the body organs functionality has no difficulties so we can say is healthy, but not the too skinny or too fat.
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Janice,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gOHvDP_vCs
Actually I believe the word on the picture is saying the same thing you are saying. I actually believe the word is trying to say that “sexy is not necessarily synonymous to looking like a Nike model in the picture, but rather, being healthy”.
In any case, for the occasion, I thought I would leave you with this Justin Timberlake SexyBack skinny-model-video to spur more controversy on the topic! Good Sunday
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What is skinny? This picture predicates it’s notion of skinny as a poorly nutrition-ed person only caring about being skinny not “Skinny” as you say. The picture represents a person that is in good health. A person in good health is sexy. Ya’ll miss the point.
Actually my point is that you can’t SEE healthy. Healthy is not a size or a weight. The follow up post that iIdid shares 3 very wonderful ladies whose appearances vary from each other yet they each are both sexy AND healthy.
Whats the name of this woman in the picture?