Catering to anorexics

We here at Brevity were once praised as being above the fray when it came to measuring visitor traffic, so I apologize for the following descent: this blog is now serviced by Sitemeter.

Web counting is a learning experience. On the one hand, I've confirmed my suspicion that many more people visit this blog than the select few who comment. That pleases me. Also, most of those who do leave comments remain fiercely loyal visitors, which pleases me even more.

On the other hand, I was surprised at how some Internet surfers find me. Some look for "brevity" or "andre agassi las vegas" or "taylor hicks purple coat." That's fine. But the #1 way, by far, is the Google image search for "anorexic." What comes up is an Entertainment Weekly cover photo of Sarah Michelle Gellar. Interestingly, though, I never posted that picture; I only linked to it from a fan site. But Google skips the middlefan and brings the user directly here, where I imagine they'll be disappointed.

For the record, I'm against anorexia and other eating disorders. That's why I criticized Joss Whedon's use of malnourished girls as strong heroines, and spoke negatively about the bulimia-afflicted voices of Lindsay Lohan and Hilary Duff. For the life of me I'll never understand why society glorifies the likes of Mischa Barton or Nicole Richie. That most actresses and other female celebs are too skinny is bad enough. But some are beyond what can be considered borderline healthy.

There's no meaningful protest to make here. "Eat something," I guess, but encouraging a nation of gluttons makes obesity an even bigger health problem. And waiting for these emaciated offenders' bones to snap will take too long. My suggestion is to find the next guy who thinks the girl in the Cingular ad is "sooooo hot" and slap him around until he realizes the error of his ways.