Pro-Ana Forums

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Pro-Ana is a term used for online forums and chat rooms that began popping up on the web in 2001. Pro-Ana forums exist to this day as a way for individuals with eating disorders (most commonly anorexia nervosa) to share support, anecdotes, advice and a venue in which to discuss a psychological disorder often kept under wraps. Pro-Ana has different types of members: some support being anorexic and share eating habits, however controversial, and provide and seek advice from others on maintaining their unhealthy form. However, others use Pro-Ana to spread awareness about the illness and provide support to those in need.

Types of Pro-Ana Communities

There are three varieties of Pro-Ana communities populating the internet, and most sites that fall under this category are one of these types, or a combination thereof.

1) Lifestyle Communities

The first type of Pro-Ana site is one that is a place of convergence for those who have not been diagnosed with an eating disorder by a medical professional. Some pages in this category feature a moral code for a Pro-Ana lifestyle, which includes tips for staying thin, dieting, and various tools for viewing the world in a way that is consistent with the lifestyle. These types often personify the disordered eating, framing it as a sort of companion in the daily lives of members.

Thinspo can range from photos of healthy, fit women to photographs of emaciated models.

2) Thinspo' Communities

An example of thinspo.

The second type does not offer any support or glorification, or direct support of the disordered eating patterns, but provides a place to discuss things such as “thinspiration” (often shortened in forum culture to “thinspo”), where individuals post pictures of goal weights, ideal bodies, and possible diets and workout routines. Members can also post pictures of thin people for "thinspiration", including high fashion models, most of whom are incredibly thin by today's standards.

3) Support Communities

PrettyThin.com's homepage banner.

The third category represents the most commonly found Pro-Ana community on the web today. These groups offer support and raise awareness and tolerance for eating disorders. Since anorexia nervosa is a shame-based behavior in many cases, the anonymity of the internet provides a safe platform for many users to be more candid in regards to their eating habits, and often makes users more inclined to seek help and support.

Although these websites (the most prominent of which is www.PrettyThin.com), provide support for those suffering from disordered eating, they do not include tips on purging, fasting, or hiding food, and do not include “thinspo” threads.

Ethics of Pro-Ana

At the time when they were first found on the web, the Pro-Ana forums were used as a way for many sufferers of anorexia (mostly young women) to converge and seek help from other affected persons. There was, however, some backlash toward these types of forums because a portion of the users were present on the sites because they sought new diet methods, and wrongly assumed that individuals diagnosed with anorexia nervosa would have healthy solutions. Nevertheless, supporters argued that the sites raised awareness for those afflicted with the disorder, and were vehicles to further rights and tolerance for sufferers. Those who oppose argue that the forums existed to ‘recruit’ others into disordered eating patterns, or seducing them with false information into anorexia.

The very vocal minority who strongly opposed Pro-Ana websites saturated the mainstream media with example after example of casual dieters who contracted eating disorders after visiting these types of forums. According to an article in Cambridge Common, a blog originating from Harvard students, “The very notion that the internet will give you an eating disorder is lewd to begin with. It’s not a computer virus that will infect you too.” However, once word spread that individuals fell to anorexia nervosa after having visited Pro-Ana forums, even long-time users began to defect from the sites, and after a short time, almost all of them were disbanded or left virtually empty.

Even third-category websites, such as www.PrettyThin.com, mentioned previously, have steep regulations placed on them in the wake of the media firestorm surrounding Pro-Ana sites in the early 2000s. Although the forum offers support and does not encourage unhealthy behavior or “thinspo”, and encourages healthy eating habits, looser control on calories, and moderate exercise as methods for weight control, there is still some censorship that occurs on the website. For instance, there are places for users to share their personal stories, as is consistent with the form of a rehabilitation program. However, users under the age of 18 cannot view these posts, and 18 years of age is a common age cutoff for many popular Pro-Ana forums. This, however, is inconsistent with the fact that anorexia nervosa is a common disorder in girls aged 13-18 . Many new cases that seek help in the information age do so over the internet, and those cases who are in the most popular age group for new cases of anorexia can often not receive online support due to censorship, which is largely a backlash to type-one Pro-Ana forums, most of which no longer exist, and can be detrimental to the physical and psychological well-being of young women who suffer from anorexia nervosa.

Notable Figures

Isabelle Caro

Franch model and actress Isabelle Caro died in 2010 at the age of 28 from her anorexia, which she was reported to have suffered from since the age of 13. She was enormously involved in spreading information about the harm of the disease in its later stages, which include hair loss, the cessation of menstruation, organ failure, and eventually death. In her most prominent role, she posed nude for an Italian fashion house's campaign against anorexia, revealing her extreme state of physical deterioration (WARNING: Image is extremely shocking and unsuitable for younger viewers or workplace environments). Caro is credited as an important figure in spreading information of what the disease is actually like once it progresses beyond the stages shown in most "thinspo."

Kenneth Tong

Kenneth Tong, a native of Hong Kong who achieved celebrity as a reult of his participation in Big Brother UK, has announced plans to launch a diet based upon his theory of "managed anorexia." He claims that all people can achieve a size zero, that thinness is associated with success, and that it's "not okay" to be plus sized or fat In an interview with noted journalist Johann Hari, Tong displays an incredible misunderstanding of what anorexia is as well as the natural variation in size of the human body's skeletal system. He also confirms he has no medical training or medical advice on his diet plan, and Hari insinuates several times that he displays a sociopathic contempt for other people and should seek profession psychiatric help. His twitter page confirms his contempt for the non-wealthy as well as those sized larger than zero.

See Also

• Censorship

References

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