One issue I’ve always had with eating disorder groups like the The Bulimia Project is this: most seem to think that ANY attempt to get fit, lose fat, etc. is a quick pathway to an eating disorder. As in, there’s nothing between being fat and starving yourself. It’s like assuming there’s nothing between dehydration and dilutional hyponatremia.
The physiques represented in these two AI images aren’t that difficult to obtain, and they’re healthy. If someone gets an eating disorder because of them, I’d say they have other, deeper issues going on.
What would probably surprise these eating disorder organizations is that weight training has cured a lot of former anorexics and bulimics. The person gets into lifting and realizes that muscle looks good and that it’s fun to do stuff with that muscle, like lift heavy things. Then they realize that not eating doesn’t help with building muscle and performing well. Instead, these groups see any attempt to get fit as some sort of social problem or red flag.
I’ve even seen some coaches and respected fitness experts fall into this trap, which all lives under the woke umbrella. Like female coaches talking about how being fat is healthy, etc. and all the while THEY are doing everything they can to not be fat. It’s really quite evil and repugnant.
All that aside, the AI images gathered from popular social media accounts represent the usual biological beauty standards: symmetry, youth, and the general appearance of good health. Not too surprising given the source data…
No, wait. I need attention: As a middle-age, bald, kinda-pale guy, I don’t feel seen! Tell me I’m pretty!!! (Am I doing it right?)