Every college girl has been alerted to the fact that they should detag incriminating pictures or take down inappropriate quotes from online profiles because it could harm the status of a future internship, job, or even college application. That’s all common sense at this point.

But now, common problems for young females such as eating disorders are being used as evidence by an insurance company to not insure them. An article in the New Jersey Law Journal details this surprising case.

Apparently certain girls were denied health insurance by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield because of online writings and posts pointing to “emotional” causes of disorders such as bulimia and anorexia. Why would this matter whether it was emotionally or biologically based? Here’s the catch:

The insurer is only required to pay for illnesses that are biologically based, so they are attempting to prove through facebook, myspace, etc. that the reasons behind them are purely emotional.

The article goes on to say that, “Judge Patty Shwartz ordered the plaintiffs to turn over by Jan. 15 the children’s e-mails, diaries and other writings about their “eating disorders or manifestations/symptoms thereof, and related health conditions” that had been “shared with others, including entries on Web sites such as ‘Facebook’ or ‘MySpace.’” Read More »

There are a few things I could’ve done without in last night’s Nip/Tuck episode:
a) A guest appearance by Rosie O’Donnell. Gross.
b) Marshmallow fluff. Gross.
c) The ass bandit story line. Where in god’s name did the producers come up with this one? (However, Liz’s comment about “digitally dittling” the victims was pretty damn funny.)

Anyway, on to the good stuff…eating disorders.

As someone who very recently wrote a blog about “thinspiration,” I was especially intrigued by the role it played last night. Naughty Eden has introduced poor MacNamara’s daughter to the trials and tribulations of being a young girl who’s overly concerned with her weight. Not only does Annie ask Dr. Mac for lipo because her ass is too big (???), but she gets coached by Eden on “ana” and “mia” not to mention which “thinspiration” websites she visits so that she gets thinspired to skinny.

She even goes as far as making Annie practice purging. Good lord this was so f-ed up! Aside from the fact that this is only a TV show, it’s no wonder so many young girls are developing eating disorders with the kind of influence that’s out there. Read More »

There is a video of me as a little girl where I am pretending to be She-Ra.

Of course, my sister had already done her She-Ra skit but I wanted to be just like her, so I put on the plastic dress and the plastic mask, ran out onto my grandparents porch and said “For the honor of Grayskull, I am She-Ra.”

Then I made some flying noises, ran in a circle and quickly exited our makeshift stage.

I always wanted to be She-Ra.

She had (according to Wikiepdia) “the archetypical female traits of kindness, compassion, and a soft-spoken manner” but she also had “bravery and perseverance in the face of danger. As well as the super-human strength and stamina shared by He-Man after his transformation, She-Ra had additional skills in her changed form. These include a healing touch and telepathic communication with animals.”

Of course I wanted to be like She-ra. She kicked ass.

But when I was in kindergarten my best friend was always She-Ra and made me be her sidekick, Perfuma. Since I had the Perfuma action figure, that made perfect sense to her stuck up ass. Even as a five year old, she was a total bitch.

Maybe that’s how I always felt, the sidekick to everyone: my best friend, my big sister. Which is why I developed such a perfectionist complex at such a young age. Read More »

Any girl who has been to college realizes the pressure that you feel to be slim. I know that when I first arrived at my college campus, it was hard to ignore all of the stick thin girls strutting around. No matter how much you try to completely ignore it, the feeling that maybe you should lose some weight or get in better shape will inevitably come over you at some time throughout your four years.

Although I eventually developed a healthier lifestyle in college, there were times when my slimming down habits were not necessarily healthy or good for me in the long run (i.e. fad diets). I was lucky that I never developed a serious eating disorder like so many college girls do after feeling all of the pressures to be thin.

Well, apparently, some genius dude thinks that the pressure girls feel is a great thing and that it will help them get healthy! Obviously, he has never been a girl in college and had to deal with any body image issues… Read More »

Everyday there’s something new in the gossip columns about Nicole Richie’s skeletal frame. And there’s no doubt about it—girl needs to eat! She looks like she could be blown over by a gust of wind. All those pregnancy rumors? I honestly hope not cause that’s going to be one seriously unhealthy little baby.

Keira Knightley and Kate Bosworth also face a lot of scrutiny over their diminished frames. They can lie all they want about being healthy, but their rib cages poking out say otherwise. Actually Kate’s looking a little healthier, so that’s good. Mmmm food…isn’t it good, Kate?

OK, so all these girls are uber-skinny, and I’m obviously sort of a hater. You can call it jealousy, and it partially is. I eat a piece of lettuce and its girth is immediately added to the side of my thighs. And it makes me maaaaaaad. I really, really just want a cheeseburger, but my butt can’t handle the added pounds. But I would much rather look like the lovely Kate Winslet than any of these scary looking pre-pubescent shaped actresses.

What makes me even more mad, though, is image they portray to women. When my friend’s 13 year-old sister said she thought Nicole Ritchie had the perfect body I almost shoved a sheet of Oreos down her throat right then and there. I mean, really?

But instead of always commenting on Nicole (she’s obviously not enjoying the paps lately anyway) why the hell does no one ever say anything about Victoria Beckham?

She reportedly has a 23 inch waist—which, after doing some research, I learned is equivalent to the waist of a seven year old child! Some people are naturally really skinny—and Victoria is obviously one of them— but if you look at Posh over the years, she’s definitely been withering away. Read More »