Pro-ana and pro-mia: good, bad or neither?
October 29, 2008 by angelique
Filed under Women's Health
Breaking the Mirror is a pro-recovery blog. As such, I feel it fills the need to bring support, awareness and discussion among persons with and without eating disorders.
But there are many other blogs and forums that discuss anorexia, bulimia and ED-NOS (eating disorder not otherwise specified). Those I’d like to discuss today designate themselves as pro-ana or pro-mia.
There’s a great deal of controversy about those communities. Some people believe they are evil; others feel they have saved their lives by providing a connection with likeminded individuals. Many people don’t care either way.
Today, I’d like to start a dialogue about pro-ana and pro-mia websites.
Do you think they are innately good, bad or neither? Do they provide a welcoming place for lonely girls and guys who are suffering in silence? Or do they legitimize the social acceptance of extreme thinness?
My only request (perhaps rule) for our conversation about pro-ana and pro-mia sites and societies is that it is held respectfully. Please refrain from name-calling, as it does nothing to prove a point. Anorexia and bulimia are life-threatening conditions, so let’s treat this discussion seriously.
It’s your turn.
Tell me about your thoughts on pro-ana and pro-mia, the good, the bad, the ugly, the neutral.
i think they are horrible. The term “pro” means they are for their eating dosporders and often trade tips and tricks on how to continue killing yourself. i had a xanga journal when i was trying to recovery where “pro” eating disorder readers would come by and leave messages like “its ok, just dont eat tomorrow” or “stay strong, youll do better tomorrow” when I talked about how I had eaten that day. It waqs very discouraging and when times got hard, their “support” often made me want to give up.
Kelly Turner
http://www.groundedfitness.com
Sometimes I don’t know what to think…
I think for girls who have already fallen prey to anorexia, bulimia, or ed/nos then it serves as a community for them. They are already sick. And not to say that they don’t need and deserve to get better — having a community might serve a purpose of ridding them of the feelings that they’re completely isolated from everyone else. Often times there are feelings that no one understands.
On the other hand, these illnesses take lives. It’s depressing and sick and it doesn’t need to be encouraged. A young woman who’s about to embark on a restrictive diet needs to be protected. Because really — it could happen to anyone. Maybe the person won’t turn out to be a hardcore anorexic or bulimic but the damage will be done to their body and self-esteem and there are already too many people struggling with eating disorders.
And lastly, I’d like to say that pro-recovery websites can be just as damaging to people in recovery from eds. Because certainly people have their own definition of what “recovery” means. For me — when I first started blogging — it really meant eating one meal a day and no binging and purging. So I didn’t “belong” with the pro-ana/mia crowd because I really did want to move away from the ed — but I wasn’t really recovery focused either. Hearing about how others struggled with their disorder (or didn’t struggle so much and still managed to be quite thin) was — IS — very frustrating.
Honestly, there have been posts on this blog that are triggering.
Kelly:
That’s really interesting to me because so many pro anas and pro mias have told me that they don’t recruit, but your experiences are akin to recruitment. How frustrating!
Erin:
I’m sorry about triggering you upon occasion. I try to be as conscientious as possible, but I suppose it’s impossible to be completely “trigger free”. After all, we’re all so unique. And you bring up a great point — everyone’s ED is different. And everyone’s definition of “recovery” varies. So what doesn’t bother one person might trigger another.
Know that I welcome your input and value your being part of the community, though. I really do.
Honestly? Life itself is triggering. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to crawl into a hole and be left undisturbed by the influences of the world?
No, it would be exactly the same, we would only be tortured by our own internal merry-go-round.
The sooner we take a stand against our triggers, whether external orinternal, the sooner we begin to see there is life beyond our ed.
I know what you mean… the worst triggers often come from my own bizarre thoughts. Perhaps we really are our own worst enemies.
“Anorexia and bulimia are life-threatening conditions” — exactly. They are life-threatening conditions, and any website that promotes them is reprehensible. While I agree with you all that triggers are everywhere, pro-ana and pro-mia sites go out of their way to trigger vulnerable people, and that is morally disgusting.
Sorry, this has nothing to do with the post, but….You’ve been tagged!
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ya know, when i was truly in it, entirely encompassed by the disease, i thought those sites helped me. i spent all day on them. i had friends, people who understood me and my struggles, and didn’t chastise me. they weren’t scared of me. i had friends that i could share everything with.
and then one of my friends died from this disease we shared. she died and i got scared. i think, in all honesty, that’s what triggered me to recover. that’s why i’m as okay as i can be.
the point it, that girl could have been me, or any of us. while it helped me in the long term, it also dragged me and a ton of other susceptible girls down a dark path and some of us don’t escape.
I just left a huge and lengthy response to one of your other posts – but my response to this question, in a nutshell:
It all depends on the site and the people on it.
Ask 10 different people what “pro-ana” means to them, and you’ll probably get 10 different answers…
I really have no problem with it. Freedom of speech/press my friends! Love or hate what they say I think they have every right to say it. And I hope they use that constitutional freedom while they still can. The world is slowly turning into a censored ‘politically correct’ police state just because some people get a little offended. I don’t think these websites really do much. Eating disorders aren’t trends. They’re a mental illness, just like bipolar or depression. You don’t inflict it on yourself and reading about someone say how many cookies they ate isn’t going to make a difference. And if it does? Well then it’s as easy as closing your browser. Alright I’ll admit the whole ‘pro’ thing insinuates that they are advocating eating disorders. And while it is a bit unsettling at how fucked up their ideologies are and that they think its all peachy keen to eat a couple hundred calories a day. I honestly think that it’s great that they are willing to advocate something so controversial. I personally don’t agree with their ideologies but anyone who is willing to speak up when it defies conventional wisdom and refuse to be shut up just because they are advocating something controversial; deserves some respect in my books.
I just read about social acceptance of extreme thinness…Where do you live? I am on the skinny side, 5″ 3 101 lbs, always have been. When I lived in France where I was born, not once did any one question if I was sick or anything, I moved to Canada 10 years ago and it started: if I go to the doctor this is the first question I hear: Are you anorexic? needless to say I avoid them like the plague. Co-workers, people on the streets, same thing…
Now all the fat people, they obviously are sick but no one dares to say anything.
I think most people would agree that pro-ana and pro-mia sites are bad. The only people who would disagree are anorexics&bulimics and people who want to be “opinionated”.
In my own opinion i think those sites are disgusting. Who would want to be responsible for making young girls and women think that they aren’t worth anything unless their skinny,and not just skinny, but stick thin. It’s preposterous to even consider thinking that those sites “don’t really do much”. I myself have seen visited them a few times and find myself thinking “maybe i could lose a little weight by using the tricks on here” and im not fat at all! Im 5′1 and hardly 105 pounds naturally. I have always had a problem with body image, and these sites just worsen it.
I find it a little disturbing to know that some people think it’s okay to waste yourself away to skin and bones.I understand that some people can’t help it and it’s a psychological thing,but the people who encourage it, make me sick. These sites are key to many deaths by anorexia. It’s a shame that they continue to be on the internet.