"Pro-ana"-Anorexics unite

Another moral rant of mine on society. Today I happened to read from two different sources about the concept of the "pro-ana" movement on the internet. Essentially it is a network of readily accessible websites extoling the virtues of anorexia and bulimia and ways in which to maintain your anorexia. I found this somewhat interesting as the articles I read both expressed outrage that this content was available on the internet for impressionable young minds. So I investigated, and after entering pro-ana into Google, there popped up 1,370,000 sites for this topic!!!
So I visited ana's underground grotto and I was disgusted at the content of the site.

"This is a place for the elite who, through personal success in their ongoing quest for perfection, demonstrate daily the power and results of applying will, imagination, creativity and effort toward meeting their goals."......"This is a pro-ana website. That means this is a place where anorexia is regarded as a lifestyle and a choice, not an illness or disorder. There are no victims here. "

I couldn't believe it. There are pictures of Mary-Kate Olsen and Kate Moss is praised. There are also pictures of enormously obese women to help the women keep focused on their goals.

More disturbing though I thought, was the careful disclaimering featured
If you are under the age of 18, current laws in your geographical region may require you to obtain parental consent to view the contents of this website. You and you alone -- not me -- are responsible for determining if such laws exist and whether you obey them. By entering this site, you automatically certify that you are either 18+ or have obtained parental consent to do so. In the event anyone under 18 should enter this site without parental consent, I will NOT be held responsible for any federal, state or local law they may violate by doing so, nor for ANY resulting consequences to their physical, mental, emotional or spiritual health.

And the comments Section is disclaimered also and threathening those who may want to speak out against
Abusive email will be treated as "spam" and dealt with accordingly. "Abusive" is defined as insulting, rude, harrassing, harsh, mocking, censorious, or otherwise offensive emails, or emails preaching about the dangers of the ana lifestyle. Save yourself the time and trouble: DON'T BOTHER. Any such email is an unwelcome intrusion, and will result in a trace of your IP address and mail path, with notification to your ISP and upstream providers of TOS violations.

I just can't believe how disgusting I think this is. Why is there this fascination with being so thin? How can it be legal to promote it like this? So openly? Pictures of super thin celebrities are dubbed "Thin-spiration". I hope my daughters never go this direction....It just kills me. Has anyone else heard of this before?

5 kindred spirits ~ This bugs them too!:

indiana said...
June 06, 2006 5:28 PM

"pro ana" is an embedded movement by the pharma,cosmetic & the diet supplement companies in your country.
The day you guys start accepting nature or natural occurings in life,that is the day these embedded movements would stop!!

Dataceptionist said...
June 06, 2006 5:33 PM

Hi Indiana! I'm not sure whether you're agreeing with this or disagreeing?

Anonymous said...
September 17, 2009 10:33 AM

Indiana is batshit crazy. Pro-ana has nothing to do with any of those things.

Anonymous said...
September 18, 2009 7:51 AM

I think you have a valid point dataceptionist, but have you considered this; have you ever been tempted to do something you know you shouldn't do or is bad for you? e.g. cheating on an exam, stealing gum from the shop, smoking, drinking alcohol when mum and dad are out (if you're a kid). etc.
Ok, so those are small things by comparison, but I who have been struggling with anorexia for 15 years now, sometimes have my 'I want to recover' moments, and sadly the 'stuff it, being anorexic is easier than the battle I must endure to recover', and during these times (like NOW) I want to visit pro-ana sites, because yes, anorexia hurts and it's just having SOMETHING out there, from people who UNDERSTAND.
It's a lonely illness, and it's nice to not be alone all the time...

Anonymous said...
April 03, 2010 1:49 AM

i am a yo-yo anorexic.... i try exceptionally hard to lose extreme amounts of weight in small periods of time. Its just a way to test myself i guess. Since christmas alone my weight has gone from 8.7 stone to 7.2 stone (height: 5.8) and the rush i get from looking in the mirror at the control i have over myself- its better than any feeling out there.
I the normally spend the next month recovering and rewarding myself by having fuller meals which i do not throw up.
I have tried to recover from my ways but i believe that i am stuck in them forever. The pro-anoriexa websites are rather concerning from my point of view. What if people actually become anorexic because of some of them?? I would never wish something like that on someone else.
however, as i have ended up on this page, it is obvious that i myself visit these pages.... and as it was previously mentioned; this is purely for comfort and motivation reasons. I think it is important for the anorexics and bulimics out there to NOT FEEL TOTALLY ALONE.
Thats all i have to say....

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