Lesley Warren
“My Friend Ana”: The Role of Website Administrators in Anorexia Recovery
I have a friend from high school named Jennifer. Jennifer is a beautiful, talented girl who has always been popular and well-liked among her peers. Shealways radiates self-confidence and seems on top of the world. However, it was not until after high school that I discovered the truth behind her happy façade: Jennifer suffers from a severe eating disorder. I made my discovery a little over a year ago when I stumbled upon Jennifer’s blog on Tumblr, a popular blogging website. Her blog was filled with images of emaciated women and posts written by Jennifer detailing her daily struggles with binging and purging while attempting to hide her symptoms from her parents. The worst part is that she was constantly re-blogging images and quotes from others that were triggers of her disease, images that came from blogs which are dedicated to perpetuating “pro-ana” ideology. “Pro-ana” is the promotion of anorexia nervosa as a lifestyle choice rather than a mental disease. The creators of these blogs provide tips, tricks, and support for those wanting to live with anorexia. The blogs are dedicated to encouraging young women to further their disease. They cause my friend Jennifer and women like herto fall into a consistent, reoccurring pattern of destruction, and this ideology is all too easily accessible to women who suffer from eating disorders.Pro-ana blogs are detrimental to Jennifer and thousands of girls just like her, and because of the negative effects on the physical and psychological health of young women, these blogs and websites must beclosely monitored by website administrators to ensure their product is not adversely affecting people with eating disorders.
Pro-ana blogs are a perverse type of support group for women with eating disorders that facilitate negative thoughts and behavior. Claire Mysko, an advisor to the National Eating Disorders Association, says,"young people who are prone to disordered eating are generally plagued with insecurity and feeling very isolated, so this world of pro-ana provides a community and a sense of belonging, and validates their experiences. But unfortunately, it does so in a way that promotes incredibly unhealthy and dangerous behavior” (Gregoire 1). As Mysko note, these blogs consistently offer techniques and ideas for women to further their disorders. The blogs are extremely harmful and promote an unhealthy, life-threatening disease to a community that is inherently insecure and therefore craves support. According to Jennifer Curry and Shannon Ray, authors of "Starving For Support: How Women With Anorexia Receive 'Thinspiration' On The Internet," “individuals suffering from anorexia may be particularly attracted to support groups on the Internet that will foster pro-anorexia behaviors as theyoffer a sense of belonging in a like-minded community” (362).The so-called “support groups” in the online communities do nothing but create negative environments that women with the disease can latch onto in order to feel that they have support. Because of this negative attraction, the blogs must be monitoredin consideration of the destructive effect they have on women with this mental disorder.
One problem with pro-ana blogs is that theydo not promote anorexia as a mental disorder, but rather as a lifestyle choice. In the New York Times article, “A Secret Society of the Starving,” Mim Udovitch spoke about this online phenomenon noting that“[pro-ana ideology] could not exist absent the anonymity and accessibility of the Internet, without which the only place large numbers of anorexics and bulimics would find themselves together would be at inpatient treatment” (Udovitch 1). Udovitch points out that normally, anorexics would not have an opportunity to gather this type of perverse support because they usually are only able to interactin a hospital while receiving treatment. However, the internet gives these women a new place to gather and foster completely destructive communities, and a way to share what they are feeling while still remaining completely anonymous. This opportunity leads these women to feel as if they are being supported, but in all actuality they are only further hurting themselves by viewing material they know will trigger their disease. In “ ‘Hunger Hurts but Starving Works’: A Case Study of Gendered Practices in the Online Pro-Eating-DisorderCommunity,” Krista Whitehead argues that the blogs are destructive because they “implicitly argue for the right to resist treatment and maintain behaviors deemed unhealthy” (Whitehead 602). As Whitehead notes, women on the blogs intentionally gather to enable each other to resist treatment, which is why it is vital that they be monitored closely.
While there are some blogs that truly are support groups for those trying to recover, according toa study conducted by J. Kevin Thompson, “Viewership of Pro-Eating Disorder Websites: Association with Body Image and Eating Disturbances,” almost half of the 76 patients he studied found purging and weight loss tips on pro-recovery websites (Thompson et. al. 92). Thompson’s findings reveal that even on the so-called “pro-recovery” websites there are still tips and tricks shared about how to further the disease.Therefore, it is imperative that all websites and blogs dedicated to eating disorders, including those that are pro-recovery, be monitored so that those seeking support in their recovery will not be influenced by pro-ana ideology.
We can easily find examples of the help and support that is currently being sought online by simply searching “ED,” an acronym for eating disorder, on Tumblr.com. The first page displays a young girl seeking a pro-ana partner, saying, “I’m looking for a pro ana buddy, you’ll all tell me how unhealthy it is, but that won’t change my mind I just want someone to help me through this and support me, I’ll do the same for you. Please message me if you’re interested!”(Come 1). The very next post on the page by another girl reads, “I just had a bowl of soup. It was only like 200 calories and that’s the ONLY thing I’ve had today besides coffee and water” (Thigh1). This girl was upset that she had consumed 200 calories in a single day. The same girl later writes, “Today, even though I ate absolutely nothing, I feel so fat because I looked at food. I made a plate of pasta for lunch but I threw it all away when my mom wasn’t looking. And even though I didn’t even take one bite I felt disgusting afterwards” (Thigh1). It is not hard to imagine the destructive effect this type of language would have on someone in recovery who had consumed a full meal that day, but unfortunately posts like these are constant in this environment. Yet another post, this time from a seventeen-year-old girl on Tumblr,reads, “I will not stop until I can see all the bones in my hands. I will not stop until I can put my feet together and my thighs don't touch. I will not stop until my hip bones are showing even when I'm standing up” (Sick 1). These posts are just a few of the thousands that occur each day. These posts and all others like them are automatically massive triggers for other women who are suffering, and for this reason the blogs must be monitored in order to stop the encouragement of eating disorders.
The common skeptic would assert that there is just no way anyone could actually be encouragingwomen to become anorexic. However, according to Whitehead, “research on Pro-ED websites indicates that participation in pro-anorexic behavior is facilitated, encouraged and supported via the Internet, whereby individuals exchange tips with respect to how to maintain their behaviors” (Whitehead 596). The women who run the pro-ana blogs know exactly what they are doing and the effect it has on others who are suffering from an eating disorder. On Blogspot, another popular blogging website like Tumblr, there is a blog entitled The Pro Ana Lifestyle, on which the writer said, “I call myself an Ana veteran. I've been anorexic for 14 years now, and I know this is the way I want to live. I don't need a buddy for myself, but I can be one for a few, or some more, because I've been there. I've seen it all, done it all. People know I don't eat, and that’s what I tell them now. I am an Ana girl, and they just have to suck it up”(Pro Ana 1). This woman calls herself a veteran because she has successfully escaped recovery for fourteen years, and that is exactly what she is hoping her readers can do as well. This very same blog also provides the “Thin Commandments,” which tell viewers that “being thin is more important than being healthy” and “being thin and not eating are signs of true will power and success” (Pro Ana 1). These are only two of the ten “Thin Commandments” and they are each increasingly disturbing.The woman who runs this blog maintains strict privacy settings so that the pro-ana users “don't get stupid fat jealous bitches stalking [them]” (Pro Ana 1). This apparently means the users have received what they see as negative comments but in reality were probably voices of reason urging them to get the help they need. This kind of behavior is destructive and it absolutely cannot be allowed to go on. From the same search on Tumblr, a post was pulled up that said, word-for-word,“Don’t recover. Just don’t. I did and I hate myself and I used to be 15 lbs. lighter than this a year ago today and I hate myself. Stay skinny” (Binge1). This girl is ordering other women to not even attempt recovery. She is purposely telling anyone and everyone that it is better to have a life-threatening mental disorder than to gain fifteen pounds. It is not even restricted just to Tumblr users; a person does not even need to have an account on the website to gain easy access the material. This direct quotation is exactly the type of material that can be found just about anywhere on the internet. It is too readily accessible to those for whom it may have deadly repercussions. This material must be monitored closely by website administrators. If the task seems too daunting, it is the administrators’ responsibility to hire employees with the specific task of monitoring for pro-anorexia behavior in order to protect the safety of its users.
It is the moral responsibility of website owners and administrators to monitor risky behaviors being displayed on their pages. Some might argue that it is simply impossible for administrators to monitor so many people, but this is not the case. For example, Facebook, the largest and most popular social media website in the world with more than one billion users, manages to monitor its content for violence, offensive images, and hate speech. If a website as large a Facebook – with a population big enough that were it a country it would the 3rd largest in the world – can monitor user’s content for offensive language, so can every other website on the Internet (Revealed 1). It is simply a matter of administrators taking responsibility for the fact that women can be severely harmed by these websites if operators do not serve as diligent gatekeepers.
A woman with an eating disorder is very likely to seek peer support instead of professional help. By monitoring pro-ana websites and blogs, administrators can help ensure that women suffering from this disease will not receive the wrong kind ofonline support community. Pro-ana blogs are detrimental to my friend Jennifer and many other girls just like her. By monitoring their websites, administrators can help remove the negative influence and instead encourage these women to seek professional help and positive support elsewhere. By dismantling destructive communities and fostering positive ones, website administrators will play a crucial role in helping women with eating disorders get the help they deserve.
Works Cited
Binge with the eyes. Binge-with-the-eyes.Tumblr.com, 2012. Web. 3 Dec. 2012.
Come on skinny love. Kissyourlipsandgrabyourhips.Tumblr.com, 2012. Web. 3 Dec. 2012.
Curry, Jennifer, and Shannon Ray. "Starving For Support: How Women With Anorexia Receive 'Thinspiration' On The Internet." Journal Of Creativity In Mental Health 5.4 (2010): 358-373. EBSCO. Web. 19 Nov. 2012.
Gregoire, Carolyn. “THE HUNGER BLOGS: A Secret World Of Teenage ‘Thinspiration.’ ” Huffingtonpost.com. Huffington Post, 9 Feb. 2012. Web. 3 Dec. 2012.
The Pro Ana Lifestyle. Proanalifestyle.Blogspot.com, 2012. Web. 12 Dec 2012
Sick.C-atsplz.Tumblr.com, 2012. Web. 12 Dec. 2012.
Thigh Gap. ShrinkandLove.Tumblr.com, 2012. Web. 3 Dec. 2012.
Thompson, J. Kevin, Kelley Harper, and Steffanie Sperry. "Viewership of Pro-Eating Disorder Websites: Association with Body Image and Eating Disturbances." International Journal of Eating Disorders 41.1 (2008): 92-95. EBSCO. Web. 19 Nov. 2012.
Udovitch, Mim. “A Secret Society of the Starving.” NYtimes.com. New York Times, 8 Sept. 2002. Web. 3 Dec. 2012.
Whitehead, Krista. “ ‘Hunger Hurts but Starving Works’: A Case Study of Gendered Practices in the Online Pro-Eating-Disorder Community.” Canadian Journal of Sociology 35.4 (2010): 595-626. EBSCO. Web. 19 Nov. 2012.
Williams, Rob. "Revealed: The third largest 'country' in the world - Facebook hits one billion users.” The Independent.co.uk. The Independent, 04 Oct. 2012. Web. 5 Mar. 2012