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AnnaOBrienThesisAugust14.pdf (11.22 MB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Mind over Matter: Expressions of Mind/Body Dualism in Thinspiration

O'Brien, Annamarie L
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1369057408

Abstract Details

2013, Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, Popular Culture.
Thinspiration images, meant to inspire weight-loss, proliferate online through platforms that encourage the circulation of user-generated content. Despite numerous alarmist critiques in mass media about thinspiration and various academic studies investigating 'pro-anorexia' sites, surprisingly little attention has been given to the processes of creation and the symbolic potential of thinspiration. This thesis analyzes the formal hybridity of thinspiration, and its use as an expressive medium. The particularities of thinspiration (including its visual characteristics, creative processes, and exhibition) may be considered carefully constructed instances of self-representation, hinging on the expression of beliefs regarding the mind and body. While these beliefs are deeply entrenched in popular body management discourse, they also tend to rely on traditional dualist ideologies. Rather than simply emphasizing slenderness or reiterating standard assumptions about beauty, thinspiration often evokes pain and sadness, and employs truisms about the transcendence of flesh and rebellion against social constraints. By harnessing individualist discourse and the values of mind/body dualism, thinspiration becomes a space in which people struggling with disordered eating and body image issues may cast themselves as active agents—contrary to images of eating disorders proffered by popular and medical discourse.
Marilyn Motz (Advisor)
Rebecca Kinney (Committee Member)
Jeremy Wallach (Committee Member)
116 p.
American Studies; Art Criticism; Communication; Folklore; Gender Studies; Health; Multimedia Communications; Social Research; Web Studies; Womens Studies
eating disorders; text and image; body image; mind body dualism; weight loss; dieting; popular culture; digital media; new media; social media; visual culture; internet studies; thinspiration; pro anorexia; tumblr; blogs; user-generated content

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • O'Brien, A. L. (2013). Mind over Matter: Expressions of Mind/Body Dualism in Thinspiration [Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1369057408

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • O'Brien, Annamarie. Mind over Matter: Expressions of Mind/Body Dualism in Thinspiration. 2013. Bowling Green State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1369057408.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • O'Brien, Annamarie. "Mind over Matter: Expressions of Mind/Body Dualism in Thinspiration." Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1369057408

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

bgsu1369057408
6,139
© 2013, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Mind over Matter: Expressions of Mind/Body Dualism in Thinspiration by Annamarie L O'Brien is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.