Pro-Ana: What’s it really about?
April 25, 2008 by angelique
Filed under Women's Health
As I’ve mentioned at this blog before, if the Internet had been around when I was in junior high and high school, I probably would have gladly been into the whole “pro-ana”, thinspiration scene. In fact, I think I would have modeled my behavior to “fit in” with the pro-ana crowd.
Today, I find the pro-ana movement a bit shocking, and as a mommy, I’m horrified by it. But I’m also not one to say that it’s 100% evil. I believe it serves a strange sort of purpose, one that is often overlooked — I think it tends to bring self-described “misfits” together.
Most women I’ve talked with about eating disorders spend their lives feeling isolated; becoming pro-ana gives them an identity and opens them up to meeting other pro-anas. Again, this isn’t the most ideal way to “discover” oneself by a long shot, but it’s completely understandable.
Now, is the overall pro-ana message positive? As an outsider who has visited many pro-ana sites, I don’t think so. I think it’s utterly depressing. But I “get” why individuals who are in the grips of EDs flock together. It’s companionship, even if it’s destructive.
If you’re not familiar with pro-ana sites but want to learn more about this sub-culture (and I think every parent should), just Google the term. You’ll be disgusted, surprised, and possibly saddened by what you read… but you’ll also come out with the understanding that eating disorders are incredibly complex, and the pro-ana movement is unlikely to attract the uninitiated to its fold. I have a very tough time believing that someone who stumbles upon a pro-ana site will suddenly “become” anorexic or bulimic.
Blaming pro-ana sites for the proliferation of EDs seems like a red herring. I think there are better, bigger fish to fry.
I don’t know why I’ve kept putting off doing some light research on these pro-ana sites.
I blogged about them briefly a couple of months ago, regarding a New Jersey health insurance stipulation (if I remember correctly, the health insurance companies were pushing to seize the computers of patients/policy holders who were seeking medical care for their eating disorders; something about wanting to be able to deny mental health care to those folks who’d been involved with “pro-ana”-type sites, claiming the patient/policy holder had created the condition him/herself). Anyway, I won’t spam your comments by offering the link, haha, but if you’re interested let me know and I’ll dig it up.
Anyway, I need to check them out, to get a better understanding of them. I think I read in one of your other blog posts that the owner of one particular site was just 14 years old? That makes me so sad.
Alicia:
Site owners can be any age. Plenty of people have “thinspiration” and “pro-ana” style Facebook, YouTube and MySpace accounts.
Really, if you start digging, you’ll come up against some very crazy things. Now, many pro-ana sites are a little bit “blah” — not too exciting, won’t surprise you much. But others — well, let’s just say it’s a hotbed of ED thinking.