Thinspo Vs Fatspo?

image source(not saying she's fat fyi)The battle against eating disorders in the fashion industry and for those under the media spotlight has always been a pretty big deal. Size Zero has been banned from runways in the major fashion weeks to help discourage it. Vogue signed the Health Initiative which you can read all about in their current issue. Words like proana and thinspo have become pretty taboo for their association with encouraging an eating disorder that is widely considered a disease. But perhaps now we have a new enemy. The idols of a world that has turned their backs on the super slim aren't always healthy sized girls, in fact some of them are right at the opposite end of the spectrum.I came across a blogger last week, with thousand of followers, who had won a fashion blogger award, and to be fair she does have epic personal style, but I was disappointed that her response to her severe weight issues was "It's none of your business."Now, not giving a damn about the what body shape and size is fashionable is kinda great. Being able to encourage feeling confident and happy in your own skin, so that women don't become discontent and develop a debilitating eating disorder is exactly what we all wanted, right?However, what I have seen in an increasing rise of people being admired for being, not just curvy and womanly, but downright obese. The world's turnaround on the desirability of being superskinny has left it wide open for the overweight to use this as an excuse for their size, as though that are making a fashion statement by being a size 24.The above image, which I snagged off Google, has being doing the rounds on my Facebook newsfeed for a while now, and I really do think it's a prime example of us giving out the wrong impression. I'm not saying that Marilyn isn't healthy - I just don't think the word 'attractive' is right here...'Society' has not woken up one morning and decided. "hey, now fashion trend starting now - slim and anorexic looking is so out. Now being fat is hot." The take down of the fashion industry and society bullying us into fulfilling the second, skinnier stereotype, was all about championing health over fashion. Being too thin and anorexic. Is unhealthy.So is being chronically obese.So, so many articles, and 'Real Life Stories' have been featured in gossip magazine, on television - everywhere; telling us all about how being too thin is bad for our physical and often mental health. But when was the last time you saw an article about how someone was killing themselves from obesity on the front page of Reveal or More magazine? Maybe, we're scared that pointing out how being fat is unhealthy in case it causes someone to start feeling self concious and crash dieting. But what about all these people who are damaging their health and quality of life through obesity, and upon reading that being larger is ok! just reach for another doughnut and think 'hey, I'm okay then!'The point of this article, isn't to flame upon the overweight for being overweight. Hell, I'm overweight so there'll be none of that... I just hope that someone, somewhere with a bit of influence will wake up and realize how fleeing from one extreme, we've nearly run all the way to the other instead.No one should aim to be unhealthy, no matter which side of unhealthy that is. So, if you know you're overweight, maybe start doing something about it. If you feel you're underweight, look into doing something about that. But applauding celebrities and bloggers who are blatantly obese for their blasé attitude about their weight and health, is just as damaging as another blogger posting photos of her 'beautiful bones' all over the internet. A quote from a tumblr tagged with 'Fatspo' says: (I stumbled across this be accident and was appalled.) "Here’s my real question: So fucking what if it is unhealthy? You cannot use the “It’s unhealthy” excuse to try and stop fat people from being okay with themselves unless you also give shit to every single person who smokes cigarettes, drinks alcohol, sneezes into their hands, and doesn't brush their teeth at least twice a day."Okay, that's great. That means that Vogue's Health Initiative, and banning size zero models out of care for their health and the poor example and influence onto the public's health, was no one's business in the first place so long as they were "okay with themselves"? To me, that's just somebody pointing the finger at smokers, and alcoholics in order to get the heat off themselves. Not cool.Anyone else agree with me, or perhaps I'm losing my touch and should quit Slimming World? Hmm.