Those of you who criticize James for being a 30 year old man running a website for those with eating disorders and as being sick are being horridly judgmental and sadly misinformed. He has been accused of self-esteem issues or trying to force his image of beauty onto young girls, but no one is making girls go to his website. There aren't really even any "tips" on PrettyThin. In fact, the Site wasn't even created by him. It was created by a friend of his who turned the site over to him when she went into recovery. Since then, he has turned it from the pro-ED site it used to be to the pro-individual site for those who suffer from an ED where they won't be judged or criticized for the illness they have.
For those of you who think that all girls with eating disorders are just stupid girls trying to conform to society's image of beauty: Most of us are just trying to embrace ourselves. We are trying to get our body to the point where we are happy with ourselves. Why aren't you criticizing celebrities for getting boob-jobs or rhinoplasty? Why aren't you telling them that they are trying to damage their "god-given" bodies? I would certainly think telling girls that they need to have big boobs, consequentially turning those vulnerable 11 year old girls into sex objects is just as bad, if not worse. Unless you are going to rant so viciously those who are overweight and damaging their bodies in that manor, you are being hypocritical. You can embrace your curves, and we'll embrace our bones. Thank you.
To those who simply assign pejorative labels, calling a girl "sick" or "fucking disgusting" because she has an eating disorder is no way to get her to recover if that is truly what you are seeking to do. It is my suspicion that many people who go into angry rants about eating disorders are simply venting some sort of bitterness that they have towards thin people. most people who said things like this admitted that they were overweight. This sounds like jealousy to me since they had nothing better than circular argumentation to back up their claims. But since eating disorders are each a mental disease, that can be contracted or caught, people cannot usually help the fact that they will develop an eating disorder. studies have proven that there are genetic codes that are more susceptible to contracting an eating disorder with the wrong combination of stimuli. EDs are mental illnesses just like bipolar disorder or anxiety disorder are mental illnesses. Would you call a bipolar person "sick" or "fucking disgusting" because they get depressed or have violent mood swings or suffer from chronic stress? True eating disorders are a mental illness, and can be treated, but are not the fault of the person who has the illness. In a sense, they are just as in control of their illness as someone who gets breast cancer. sure there are things that may have prevented it, but the fact that the disease is there is no reason to say such mean things to an individual. Honestly, it will only make them worse.
