The people I hate are on the rest of the internet. Specifically the glamour website. They have the do/don't spotting part of the website where people submit pictures of other people. It is SUPPOSED to be about catching fashion mishaps. But you know what it is most of the time? Fat bashing. If there is a picture of a woman, and it is almost ALWAYS a woman, who is even a tiny bit overweight everyone jumps on her. There are pictures of girls who are clearly a size 4 or less but have a slight muffin top and everyone talks about how fat they are. There was a picture of a woman in a bikini and the word disgusting was used. It's just so D*MN frustrating. Who do these people think they are? One person went so far as to say that those people clearly don't care about themselves and that "people like that" should not inflict themselves on the rest of the world. It just...it makes me want to cry. How can people have this much hate?
Ok, I'm done. This just kills me. No wonder disordered eating is starting younger. They way people act it feels like having disordered eating is ok as long as you are not "inflicting" fat on the rest of the world. Screw that.
Ok...I'm really done. I love you all and think you are all beautiful
Aside from this website and MAYBE one of two others that have nothing at all to do with looks and appearence, I stay away from most comment rooms/forums/blog comments, etc. because of things like this. And it's not just about fat people, though obviously there is a lot of awful fat-bashing online, but it's other things too... there are a lot of vicious people posting out there and I'd rather not expose myself to their venom (either being the victim of it or witnessing it). It's tiresome and awful.
Having said that... I also can't understand where all that hatred comes from, but I will say that I don't think our society values kindness the way it should. In a society where the most popular shows feature people getting humiliated, judged, rejected, betrayed, cheated, and actors getting beaten, killed, raped, and more, it's not surprising that there is little value placed in kindness. Which is not to say that we're all mean or unkind people, but I do not think we value being kind and I think this kind of hatred stems from that value system.
I love the Glamour Do's and Don'ts pages. I ignore the idiot comments about people's weight though. My pet peeve there (disclaimer, I haven't been on that site in a while) is when people take posed photos of themselves and post them as a "DO". It's supposed to be candid, not your myspace pictures.
Online forums (with the exception of this one and some others which I enjoy) ARE loaded with some really mean-spirited people. It makes me wonder how many people in real life are secretly spiteful. I'm not easily shocked or offended, but some of the heartless, tasteless comments I've seen online have made me drop my jaw and think, "How can one even THINK such snarky and condescending thoughts?" I heard that the average person lies three times per ten minutes; it makes me wonder how many "nice" people I encounter are actually undercover witches.
I was personally a victim of society's beauty ideals from a VERY young age. I remember obsessing over weight at the age of FIVE! I was a tall kid (AND clinically underweight, but that didn't stop me from being skewed) so my school uniform was a "6" instead of a "5". I started thinking, "OH NO, am I FAT???!! I'm only FIVE years old, WHY is my uniform a SIX?!?!" Of course, there are also less amusing examples of the struggles I've battled close to my entire life, BUT a little comic relief never hurt anyone! Let's just say by the time I was in my preteen years, I made the "I'm NEVER EATING AGAIN!" vow more than once.
And KLK, I agree that KINDNESS sure is an UNDERRATED virtue these days!! BUT... but... SOME people in this world truly ARE kind hearted, rarely talk crap, and want to see others happy. Some people ARE genuine. Some people truly want to make a difference in the lives of others, some people have the ability to care about someone they have known for less than five minutes, and will stay happy for the rest of the day just knowing they made someone smile.
Last edited by NightengaleShane; 11-05-2008 at 07:54 PM.
Reason: OH! :)
This is EXACTLY why I don't buy or read Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Vanity Fair, Elle, or any of the other popular fashion or style magazines.
I read Fitness, Shape, Yoga Journal, Weight Watchers, and other magazines that focus on HEALTHY bodies...fit bodies. They have nice fashion segments and beauty tips in their pages as well...but they are clothes that you might actually BUY (like a segment on walking and running shoes, or the newest sports bras) rather than some $4,000 coat that looks like someone on crack designed it.
I also don't watch The Next Top Model, or any of the modeling type reality shows. I simply do NOT buy products, clothing items, or publications that promote those sort of images....
This is EXACTLY why I don't buy or read Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Vanity Fair, Elle, or any of the other popular fashion or style magazines.
I read Fitness, Shape, Yoga Journal, Weight Watchers, and other magazines that focus on HEALTHY bodies...fit bodies. They have nice fashion segments and beauty tips in their pages as well...but they are clothes that you might actually BUY (like a segment on walking and running shoes, or the newest sports bras) rather than some $4,000 coat that looks like someone on crack designed it.
I also don't watch The Next Top Model, or any of the modeling type reality shows. I simply do NOT buy products, clothing items, or publications that promote those sort of images....
As is often the case, Aphil - you summarized my sentiments exactly.
I agree with you! It makes me crazy to read that kind of stuff... And my biggest gripe is those who say that "fat people have no respect for themselves and therefore shouldn't exist"... Oh I would like to just beat the heck out of them. Do any of them stop and think that perhaps there is a reason that people are overweight? NO!! And some of these same people brag about how they starve themselves to be a size 0. hellllooooo!!! Seems to me that they also have issues!!
I didn't know what you were talking about so I went to look. People are just positng pictures of other people on the internet!! That is sooooo rude and I would think it's somehow illegal. I can't believe they would take pictures of others and put them on the internet so they can talk bad about them. I think Glamour could get themselves into a lawsuit letting that continue. It's utterly ridiculous.
For me part of my lifestyle change is mental as well. I completely believe that it is sooo important to surround yourself with positive media. TV, Internet, magazines, books... Indulge in the ones with a positive message.
We call these type of people keyboard warriors....they would never say that type of thing in public (well, most wouldn't) and hide behind the anonymity of their keyboard.
I'm thinking those people have their own insecurities and it makes them feel better about themselves if they can bash someone else. Wouldn't surprise me in the least if 3/4 of those mean spirited people are not anywhere near as "glamorous" as they claim to be.
Last edited by yoyonomoreinvegas; 11-06-2008 at 05:53 PM.
I hear ya'!
Hard to find any comments on the Internet that aren't riddled with hateful, profane language.
There was a time you could comment on Yahoo news articles, nope, no more. It got too crazy with profanity.
Morons abound. thank goodness for the mouse button!
So many of the women's magazines are pure crap. When you're standing in the checkout line, look at the covers. Every issue is the same thing. How to lose ten pounds. Get a new hairdo. How to please him in bed (I'm waiting for the issue where the man tries hard to please us, no matter what the subject). Give me a break.
OK, I went to their website and under contact us I gave them a piece of my mind. I remember reading Glamour Mag when I was younger, their Do's and Don'ts section was always more classy, it clearly focused on fashion. I told them their internet site was totally inappropriate, it was all about fat bashing, and that nobody deserved to have their photos spread all over the internet. And that it was setting a bad example on young impressionable girls.
I think it might make an impact if more people wrote to them. It surely couldn't hurt.
I HATE people! Clearly a rant.
Let's just say by the time I was in my preteen years, I made the "I'm NEVER EATING AGAIN!" vow more than once.
