After reading “Narrow Minded” by Virginia Heffernan, here are my thoughts.

     It is unfortunate that a healthy majority of female media glorifies an unhealthy ideal body image for the public eyes of many young women.   Thinsporation is nothing short of a severely harmful addiction.  Whether masked with pride or hidden with a smile, participating individuals of such destructive behavior remain full of pain, envy, and self-induced fear.  The concept of women rebelling against their own natural physiques, with a mind set to obtain thinness so dramatic that “dancing between raindrops in a downpour” becomes feasible, is not only disturbing but also very dangerous.  When considering how attached these women are to desires such as this, it becomes apparent that those hooked on Thinspo have similar mentalities of individuals suffering from many other forms of addiction, including narcotic abuse, and should be medically monitored as such.
 
                                        
More variation needs to be incorporated into and prominent throughout the media in regards to how external beauty is defined.  Something as simple as catching a glimpse of the latest Victoria Secret Model's protruding ribcage could instigate long-term battles that continue to attack young girls' self-body images. 

     Many marijuana addicts (who typically do not refer to themselves as “addicts”), for example, praise their habit by bragging about it to their peers, making it an anticipated part of their routine, and bashing all proposed negative effects that are likely to victimize them.  Thinsporation opens an opportunity for women (mostly teenagers and young adults), who are obsessed with the idea of becoming thin at all cost, to brag about their achievements in losing a substantial amount of weight, inspire those who have similar aspirations with pictures of skeletal women, and encourage one another that being clinically underweight is beyond worth any so called health risks that might arise.  Although I do believe that most attraction to Thinspo material is primarily a phase for the majority of involved females, it still raises me a great deal of concern.  I think that media influences need to strongly encourage healthy body images for young girls.  Parental influences can also help young girls significantly by repeatedly reminding daughters of their outer and inner beauty, as well as allowing them to develop healthy habits, such as those sports and other extracurricular activities. 

Child Exposure to Adult Reading Content-

     Personally, for the most part, I believe that children should be able to read whatever they choose.  Intellectual freedom opens up a great selection of novels for children to browse and read.   This is important to me, because it is more likely to attract young readers while encouraging the enhancement of their reading skills.  Having a wide variety of reading material also allows children to be more excited about everyday reading, which in turn gives them an opportunity to become more knowledgeable in certain subjects which hold their interests.  However, this does not meant that I support drastic scenarios, such as the idea of pornographic magazines being displayed at a public library.


                                  

 Just as movies and video games provide labels which advise a recommended level of maturity to their audience, books should follow some sort of rating method that suggests appropriate age groups for each article.  

     Knowing that they are children, it is completely up to parents to decide what restrictions need to be enforced within their personal household.  Some parents choose to raise their children in a liberal manner, while others remain fairly more conservative.  Deciding what reading material is ok for a child’s intellect, is not too much different from determining whether or not the new Grand Theft Auto game is appropriate for their entertainment.   For example, the novel Fifty Shades of Grey, is exposed to children in many public environments including Wal-Mart, libraries, book stores, etc.  I do not see any issue with this.  But, in the instance where a child asks to read this particular book, it would be up to the parent to determine whether or not this book is appropriate to be exposed to their child.