[Lecomtes]

I did watch one episode. It has some redeeming qualities, but a few things really got to me.

The "let's go make a spectacle of fat American's" piece really bugs me.

It's interesting, but not surprising, that 90% of the youtube underbelly commentary is fat-bashing, little mention of the thin participants, as though there is some unspoken nobility in having the "will power" to starve yourself. It's sad because the shows reception probably reinforces the behaviors of the superskinnys.

[kaplods]

Even on the show many of the superskinnies don't seem to grasp that their eating habits are just as unhealthy and potentially deadly. In terms of mortality uncontrolled anorexia can kill in years (or even months) whereas obesity generally takes decades.

I think obesity is seen as the "worse" condition because of the stigma of fat, in part due to obesity being associated with poverty and anorexia with upper and upper-middle classes.

The fashion ideal doesn't help because many of the superskinnies look average or even slightly "overweight" by supermodel standards. These are our cultural "ideal" in many cases.

I still find it ironic to see an emaciated chain-smoker living on tea and 300 calories daily lecturing an obese person on her unhealthy diet, oblivious to the fact that in the race towards death, she herself may very well be in the lead.

They make the obese folks travel to America to see fatter folks for a wakeup call, but do not do this for the superskinnies.

I know why they don't, because anorexics rarely are "scared straight" by seeing worse cases of the disease. In fact, often they react with envy towards the "more successful" anorexics, because skinny is equated with "being good."

Still it comes off as anorexia being a more acceptable and more glamorous condition than obesity. In many ways, I think this makes anorexia more difficult to treat than obesity, because first you have to convince the anorexic that their behavior is dangerous, but how can they believe that when they're still heavier than the average runway model?

[Alyssa Autopsy]

Originally Posted by kaplods

Even on the show many of the superskinnies don't seem to grasp that their eating habits are just as unhealthy and potentially deadly. In terms of mortality uncontrolled anorexia can kill in years (or even months) whereas obesity generally takes decades.

I think obesity is seen as the "worse" condition because of the stigma of fat, in part due to obesity being associated with poverty and anorexia with upper and upper-middle classes.

The fashion ideal doesn't help because many of the superskinnies look average or even slightly "overweight" by supermodel standards. These are our cultural "ideal" in many cases.

I still find it ironic to see an emaciated chain-smoker living on tea and 300 calories daily lecturing an obese person on her unhealthy diet, oblivious to the fact that in the race towards death, she herself may very well be in the lead.

They make the obese folks travel to America to see fatter folks for a wakeup call, but do not do this for the superskinnies.

I know why they don't, because anorexics rarely are "scared straight" by seeing worse cases of the disease. In fact, often they react with envy towards the "more successful" anorexics, because skinny is equated with "being good."

Still it comes off as anorexia being a more acceptable and more glamorous condition than obesity. In many ways, I think this makes anorexia more difficult to treat than obesity, because first you have to convince the anorexic that their behavior is dangerous, but how can they believe that when they're still heavier than the average runway model?

i completely agree. as someone who was a superskinny and proud of it, i really think they should be introducing the superskinnies to people with extremely bad anorexia, like Isabella Caro, and let them see all of the horrible things she has to deal with now, being so weak and hurting all the time and developing heart problems... the show seems to be more about shock therapy though, forcing them to change meals, but i liked the earlier episodes where they do a 5-day diet swap more than season 5 and such where they only have 2 days, i don't think that's enough of a shock to the system. and yes, sometimes seeing people totally skeletal can make the anorexic want to starve more, but some people, like me, have the opposite effect. i see the superskinnies and say "i used to be like that, how sad that i got out of it and they're still doing horrible things to their bodies"