Race, Online Space and the Feminine: Unmapping ‘Black Girl Thinspiration’

Abstract

A major component of the online pro-eating disorder culture (‘pro-ana’ and ‘pro-mia’) is what is referred to as ‘thinspiration’ or ‘thinspo’, which consists of images, slogans and videos aimed at inspiring the pursuit of extreme thinness. More recently, there is a specific kind of thinspiration, labeled online as ‘black girl thinspiration’, that seeks to inspire black women to reject fuller-figured body shapes as beautiful and responsible. Through the application of a spatial analysis, I contend that pro-eating disorder environments are spaces where women attempt to de-mark their racialized bodies through hard work, will-power and mastery over their desires. Theorizing from critical race and feminist postmodern perspectives, this article disrupts the white hegemony and privilege of the thin ideal. This disruption is achieved through unmapping how modern capitalism, sexism, and racism operate in unison to produce women who starve, purge, abuse laxatives and hate their bodies, while highlighting the tremendous violence embedded in these practices.

Unmapping the Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE)

“…This methodology is consistent with my theoretical framework and is an epistemically responsible way of approaching the subject of my MRP. Deconstruction (Fook, 2016) and unmapping (Razack, 2002;Schott, 2017;Smith K. , 2011) are the two specific methods that I used.…”

“…Older social orders are constantly being reshaped and revitalized (Jacobs, 1996, as cited in Razack, 2002), so it is informative to consider space in conjunction with many systems of oppression in addition to race (Razack, 2002). These include colonialism, ableism and sanism (Bruce, 2017;Pillay & Kathard, 2015;Schott, 2017;Soldatic & Gilroy, 2018). For example, the creation of the rational subject and its converse, the cognitively impaired Other, are part of larger efforts to segregate, contain and limit the rights and opportunities of anyone who is not rational, productive and self-sufficient (Naue & Kroll, 2009;Rudy, 1987).…”

“…In other words, anyone who does not advance capitalist interests. In this MRP, I consider how cognitive differences exclude people from being Cartesian subjectsa requirement for human citizenship (Schott, 2017) which translate to spatial differences that protect neoliberal and colonial state interests (Pillay & Kathard, 2015;Voronka, 2019). I refer to these spatial differences as the "dementia space".…”

Embodied Resistance: Multiracial Identity, Gender, and the Body

“…The body intersects with other forms of difference such as race and gender (Butler 1989;Bartkowski 2005). In terms of race and embodiment, for example, historical representations of Black women are strongly linked to gluttony and sexuality (Beauboeuf-Lafontant 2003;Strings 2015;Collins 2000;Townsend Gilkes 2001;Schott 2016) and common historical stereotypes of Black women often revolve around the shape of the physical body. For example, the stereotype of the Black matriarch is often depicted as a large, effeminate and unattractive Black woman.…”

A Corpus Linguistic Analysis of Pro-Anorexia Public Tumblr Posts Written in Spanish

“…The large majority of thinspo images include white women, thus racializing the issue, layering on assumptions of status and privilege to the notion of "thinness," and creating a false dichotomy where being thin means being in control and being a curvaceous "other" is construed as giving in to bodily desires. Racial hierarchies are associated with beauty, and thinness works as a means of improving social status and enabling the navigation of elite spaces for Hispanic and African American communities (Schott, 2017).…”