Mirror fasting" attempts to break appearance obsession (Internet photo) By Ma Qian, Sina English A brand-new campaign dubbed as "...

Mirror fasting" attempts to break appearance obsession

(Internet photo)

By Ma Qian, Sina English

A brand-new campaign dubbed as "mirror fasting" has set a marked trend among women, reported The Times of India on August 20.

The movement calls on women to abstain from glaring at their reflection in the mirror for a month or up to a year, in an attempt to stop women from being obsessed with their looks.

The proposal was initiated by Autumn Whitefield-Madrano, a 36-year-old American freelance writer, and was then promoted by a team of female bloggers in the U.S..

"I'd become aware that I had a mirror face," the newspaper quoted Madrano as telling The Observer. 'Whenever I saw my reflection I'd open my eyes a little wider, suck in my cheeks a little and tip my chin down in an effort to make myself look more like I wanted to. It made me feel really vain," she said.

Whitefield-Madrano embarked on her first“mirror fast”in May 2011, in an effort to become less self-conscious about her face. After the month-long experiment, the writer claimed she became "calmer" and felt peaceful.

Blog posts sharing her experience soon gained a surge of popularity among female netizens. A host of women started to follow suit. Some even avoid looking at reflections in computer screens and shop windows.

However, counter-effect tends to arise from absolute prohibition from mirror-looking, according to the Daily Mail on August 19. The article also points out that women would bear little pressure once they get rid of narcissism.