Interview: Torn Apart and Analyzed!

Andria: Hello, my name is Andria, I understand that you want to stay anonymous. I wanted to ask you a few questions pertaining to your involvement with the Pro ANA movement, will that be alright? What does Pro ANA stand for?

Pro ANA Member: Sure, Pro ANA means Pro Anorexic. That basically means that I accept my eating disorder as a lifestyle and not a disease.

• In this moment, I have started the interview by setting the foundation on how this Pro ANA member defines Pro ANA.  It is in this moment, we as an audience can understand that Pro ANA is, for this community, a lifestyle decision.  This is to say that these members know they have anorexia, and choose to continue this disorder as their Decision.

Andria: Does that mean that you oppose the idea of recovery?

PA Member: Personally, no not entirely. I can not speak for every Pro ANA.

• After this point in the interview, we as an audience can understand that although this member is representative to the community of Pro ANA, she does not speak for every individual and their unique mindsets.  We also see that this member doe not oppose the idea of recovery, which is especially interesting considering Pro ANA is to accept your eating disorder.  Recovery is a direct contradiction that implies that this acceptance can be reversed.

Andria: This community is founded and is thriving online, is that where you find yourself taking part of this culture?

PA Member: Yes, absolutely. The only time I even communicate about ANA is online within the safe haven of people who identify with me. Even those who don't identify with me are accepting within these communities.

• This is a very important turning point in the interview.  I simply ask if this member takes part in the online culture of Pro ANA.  The member goes as far to say that online is the only time she communicates about Pro ANA at all.  She identifies these online communities as "safe havens"   because they are filled with people who identify with her decision to continue her eating disorder.  She says that within these safe havens, even the people who don't directly  identify with her accept her decisions.  This is a very plain example of how the members of these communities shouldn't be met with opposition and disagreement. Members of these communities are looking for soft and gentle understanding. As audience members, lets keep this in mind should we come in contact with a Pro ANA member outside of this blog.

Andria: Does that mean that you have no friends outside of this online community that you open up to about ANA?

PA Member: Well, I have a texting buddy that I met on a Chatzy forum. We text and vent and encourage each other throughout the day.

• I then asked if this member has any Pro ANA friends, or people who kneew of her lifestly decision outside of the online realm.  This member opened up to me about a "texting buddy".  They encourage each other daily.  What is interesting about this friend is that altough it is outside of the online realm, it is still confined by technology.

Andria: Encourage what exactly?

PA Member: We remind each other to exercise, and even get competitive. Sometimes we tell each other we are stronger than our hunger, and chastise each other for eating. It is nice to have someone that understands and tells me what I want to hear.

• I asked this member what were they encouraging, and she told me they they are competitive. They compete on who can exercise more, who can go the longest without eating, and they chastise each other when the other fails.  She says that the best part of this is relationship is having someone to tell her what she wants to hear.  This can be true of any relationship.

Andria: What is it that you want to hear then?

PA Member: I mean I want someone to tell me I am fat and to work harder. I am sick of hearing people tell me how skinny I am or how I should eat. I don't want to eat.

• The question then was, what does she want to hear?  This gets interesting, because as non-disordered people, we want to hear that we are pretty or that we are doing well.  This Pro ANA member says that she wants to hear that she is fat and needs to work harder.  She doesn't want to hear whats best for her, but rather what  her own mind is telling her.  This probably derives from the idea of understanding.  She equates understanding with the idea that someone else will tell her what she tells herself.

Andria: So you want to be told you are fat and need to work harder?

PA Member: Yes, absolutely. That is how I keep myself motivated, and this is a lifestyle that I want to continue.

• I wanted to verify the answer,and she said yes. She wants to stay motivated to continue her disorder, from more than just herself.

Andria: How did you find out you wanted to be apart of this community?

PA Member: It is hard to remember. I had never heard of Pro ANA, but I always had a hateful relationship with food. I began to google ways to get out of eating dinner at family holidays. I found the term Pro ANA and started looking up more information. The more I learned that more I wanted to be apart of the movement. That has to be 6 years ago now.

• So I asked the ultimate question, how did you know you were Pro ANA? She chose to tell me of her personal experience of the internet and how she used it to help her get out of eating.  She says that she stumbled across the term Pro ANA and began researching it.    This is an interesting idea.  Generally, what you will see throughout these community members, is that once you decide to accept your disorder, you become almost obsessive with finding ways to surround every part of your life with the very idea of ANA.  So, to simply find a term and research it until you decide you are apart of the community shows that she had already accepted the ideals of Pro ANA before she even knew about it.

Andria: How did you make the first move to becoming an actual member?

PA Member: I mean it isn't a single group with a signup list. You have to learn first, learn how to accept your eating disorder as your life and not fight it. Once you feel that way, you insert yourself into their chat rooms and forums. You claim it. That is how you become apart. There are parts you can chose not to subscribe to, such as the religious aspects. Ultimately, you just need to recognize your eating disorder, and enjoy having it.

• I asked about how she gained membership, and she seemed surprised.  She explained that there was no signup list.  You accept your disorder as your lifestyle,  and then you insert yourself into the culture.  It is self-proclaimed and terrifyingly easy to become apart of.  You don't even have to subscribe to a doctronine or every single part of the culture.  It is very lienent and open.  More accepting than many other cultures and communities that exist outside of the internet.

Andria: Is there anything else you can tell us?

PA Member: Not that I can think of, it really isn't that difficult of a concept. Can we be finished now?

Andria: Yes. Thank you so much for doing this brief anonymous interview.

PA Member: Not a problem. Thank you too.

Poetry meets ANA

Oky guys, so this is a video  of one of my favorite spoken word poets.   She does a killer job in this poem directly addresssing Pro ANA.  To hear the poem you can skip 1 minute and 10 seconds in.

This is an interesting piece, as it isn't directly the "voice of ANA".  Instead, the poet addresses the issues oof ANA.  She is brutually honest, alrhough at times sliightly insensitive.

There are other spoken word poems on the subject, and a simple Youtube search of "Pro ANA" will help satiate your curiosity.

An Unexpected Language

The language used within the  realm of Pro ANA communities is unique and unexpected.  Of course there is speak and literature that is terrifyingly dangerous. It is what a Pro ANA uses as inspiration or thinspiration.

However, there is also an abundance of acceptance and love.   It goes from one extreme to another.  As far as the chat rooms and forums, there is support for whatever decision a person makes.  That is to say, you can find people who encourage you to eat and tell you that you are not fat.  However, also, you find people  who share their statistics and speak of their goal weight.  There are people that encourage  both ways, and truly the language changes according to who is speaking.  Like any community Pro ANA is compiled of hundreds of unique personalities with individual beliefs.  One person or one website cannot define this culture as a whole.

This is where one member  encourages another to eat, trying to encourage healthy behavior.

This is where the community has come together to even  encourage me after I explained my blog to them.  They  were even happy to allow me to use their chats so long as I blurred out their names.

This is a conversation between  members who are exchanging their statistics in a way that is meant to help encourage each other to continue with their disorder in order to reach their goal weight.

While the chat rooms and forums may differ from person to person, the websites largely stay the same.  They are compiled of thinspo, and literature that encourages starvation or the continuation of one's eating disorder.  There are even song and  book recommendations, so that even when someone is spending their time with a hobby like reading they are obsessively focusing on their eating disorder and everything that comes from having it.

These are screenshots from the website Fading Obsession that show a link to quotes that help motivate people who identify as Pro ANA as well as a book list. This website has other links that show much more literature as well as song recommendations.

These are screenshots from Ana Loves Us.  These photos were found under a link labeled at thinspo.  These photos are supposed to be encouraging and motivational.  This is to serve as a visual reminder of what a Pro ANA member wishes to look like.

So, now that you can see how these communities are both dangerous and supportive, you can form your own opinion about how you feel about them.  The language and rhetoric revolve around the idea that Anorexia and Bulimia are lifestyles and decisions, not disorders.  These sites offer a safe haven for Pro ANA members to continue and thrive  in that mind set.  However, in the chat rooms and forums the people that make up these communities are incredibly accepting and supportive  of any decision their fellow members make.  It is both scary and beautiful.

Drowning in Academia!

There has been an increasing influx of academic critique regarding the subject of Pro ANA. This has changed the ability to easily access a lot of actual Pro ANA sites. The biggest affect academia has made to Pro ANA culture is that when you type into the Google search bar "Pro ANA", instead of 10 Pro ANA websites that have forums and Pro ANA content, you get articles and websites that are informative about the Pro ANA movement. A lot of them paint the culture in a negative light.

Now, trust me, at least three  of these links actually  link you to a live Pro ANA site. The rest are informative, and retrospective.  Even the video is more of a documentary than apart of Pro ANA culture.

This means that in order to continually be apart of the Pro ANA community you have to be ready to put effort forth, you have to want it. Either you will have to go through at least 6 O's in Google on a regular basis (scary, right?) or you would have to bookmark every website, forum, and chat room that you visit. This process is also ongoing, because often these websites either become static or get shut down pretty regularly. 

Here is an example of an acadmeic article!

The articles themselves, are very informative and thorough. Although, as stated before a lot of them only focus on half of the culture at a time. There are interesting pieces that circulate as well, such as a story that was published in The Telegraph. This doesn't necessarily hinder the Pro ANA movement, although it does make for very dedicated members of the community. 

Read the story posted at The Telegraph here!  

What is an interesting concept to consider, is why is there such an influx of academic critique? Pro ANA as a community and culture has fascinated at least a small portion of academic people. This is because it is like the lost city of Atlantis, it is an in to a culture of people who accept what is widely known as a mental disorder.  Despite my hesitance towards the academic in my static post, there are a handful of academic artlices that do a really fine job at analyzing Pro ANA culture.

Read about the characteristics of the community here.

Read about creating internet identies here.

This is a Stanford article addressing Pro ANA.

This is a new concept for a lot of people. Personally, I am not sure what to make of it just yet. 

This is a site that is negatively biased of Pro ANA!  

Post your ideas or opinions in the comments!

ANA as A Religion and Faith

ANA as a religion and faith gets a little murky. This  is something that has been a changing and growing aspect of the culture itself. Some academic articles claim that is is almost cult like. The very unique thing about ANA religion and faith is that it is not a requirement to subscribe to it.

Many people who identify as Pro ANA claim that it is kooky and crazy and that they don't wish to follow it as an actual religion. This is seen below in a chat room I joined.

With that being said, it must hold some merit. Almost every Pro ANA site I visited has a link dedicated to the creeds, prayers, and commandments of the ANA religion. This would not continually be added to Pro ANA site's content unless someone was choosing to subscribe to it. Below I will post a few photos of creeds and commandments.

This, as much of the culture we have seen thus far, can be controversial. Absolutely, the members who choose to follow this religion do follow cult like patterns. The creeds and commandments have a dangerous and unhealthy rhetoric that encourages starvation with a whole new level.

However, this only proves dangerous and cult-like for its subscribers.

Below is a link of a compelling academic article about the religious aspect tied to Pro ANA.

Journal for Language Teaching

Below are the links of the websites I visited that include links to information on  religion.

Fading Obsession

MiAna Land

House of Thin

Ana is Love

Becoming A Member of A Secret Society

Gaining access into the Pro ANA community is not as tricky as it may seem. In fact, you are not even required to medically be diagnosed with an eating disorder. That being said, of course you do have to have an eating disorder in some capacity. The only requirement is to accept your eating disorder as a lifestyle.

Which is to say that you choose to continue your eating disorder without actively trying to recover. Although, recovery never holds a negative connotation. In fact most websites have at least one link that offer information on recovery. In chat rooms and forums, should you mention that you are recovered, you get support for the path that you choose. In this way, gaining access into these communities is incredibly simple.

I was able to gain access for this project.  It was not neaarly as difficult as I feared.  Although I do not actually identify as Pro ANA, it was assumed that I  did.  It is not expected that anyone be involved in the chat rooms otherwise.  In fact, in the several weeks I spent there no one entered the chats unless to conviene with other members to talk about Pro ANA.

Below is a clip from a chat room I enrolled myself into. A few faithful members, who know each other by their own nicknames, were speaking of a fast they are going to start. You'll see another member ask about her recovery, and hope that she does well in recovery. This a a mannerism that would not be expected in these online communities, because at face value they appear only self-destructive.  However, this overwhelming support is an example of how easy it is to join this community.  This member is recovered, and they support her and accept her as Pro ANA regardless.  This could be thought of as "Once Pro ANA, always Pro ANA".

Now the question remains, is this a good thing or a bad thing? That is ultimately left for you as an audience to decide throughout this blog. In one aspect, these websites offer a safe haven of support for young people who suffer from eating disorders. In another aspect, they often breed self-destruction with the content offered on the websites, such as thinspiration. Also, the chat rooms and forums are filled with people encouraging Pro ANA members to continue their dangerous disordered lifestyle, and membership is almost too easy to gain.

Interview: Pro ANA, an Easy Concept?

While immersing myself into this culture in order to bring forth this ethnography of sorts, I was able to connect with many current Pro ANA members on a personal level. One person reached out to me for support, and out of respect I chose to explain to her what I was doing as far as this project. She asked if she could help, and I requested a somewhat formal interview.

 

Andria: Hello, my name is Andria, I understand that you want to stay anonymous. I wanted to ask you a few questions pertaining to your involvement with the Pro ANA movement, will that be alright? What does Pro ANA stand for?

Pro ANA Member: Sure, Pro ANA means Pro Anorexic. That basically means that I accept my eating disorder as a lifestyle and not a disease.

Andria: Does that mean that you oppose the idea of recovery?

PA Member: Personally, no not entirely. I can not speak for every Pro ANA.

Andria: This community is founded and is thriving online, is that where you find yourself taking part of this culture?

PA Member: Yes, absolutely. The only time I even communicate about ANA is online within the safe haven of people who identify with me. Even those who don't identify with me are accepting within these communities.

Andria: Does that mean that you have no friends outside of this online community that you open up to about ANA?

PA Member: Well, I have a texting buddy that I met on a Chatzy forum. We text and vent and encourage each other throughout the day.

Andria: Encourage what exactly?

PA Member: We remind each other to exercise, and even get competitive. Sometimes we tell each other we are stronger than our hunger, and chastise each other for eating. It is nice to have someone that understands and tells me what I want to hear.

Andria: What is it that you want to hear then?

PA Member: I mean I want someone to tell me I am fat and to work harder. I am sick of hearing people tell me how skinny I am or how I should eat. I don't want to eat.

Andria: So you want to be told you are fat and need to work harder?

PA Member: Yes, absolutely. That is how I keep myself motivated, and this is a lifestyle that I want to continue.

Andria: How did you find out you wanted to be apart of this community?

PA Member: It is hard to remember. I had never heard of Pro ANA, but I always had a hateful relationship with food. I began to google ways to get out of eating dinner at family holidays. I found the term Pro ANA and started looking up more information. The more I learned that more I wanted to be apart of the movement. That has to be 6 years ago now.

Andria: How did you make the first move to becoming an actual member?

PA Member: I mean it isn't a single group with a signup list. You have to learn first, learn how to accept your eating disorder as your life and not fight it. Once you feel that way, you insert yourself into their chat rooms and forums. You claim it. That is how you become apart. There are parts you can chose not to subscribe to, such as the religious aspects. Ultimately, you just need to recognize your eating disorder, and enjoy having it.

Andria: Is there anything else you can tell us?

PA Member: Not that I can think of, it really isn't that difficult of a concept. Can we be finished now?

Andria: Yes. Thank you so much for doing this brief anonymous interview.

PA Member: Not a problem. Thank you too.

Author and Friend

My name is Andria Layton. I am a 22 year old college student. I am sure you are wondering why you should trust me to give you an objective view of the culture of Pro ANA. If you hear me out, I will tell you a little bit about myself, as well as the research I have conducted.

I grew up in the lower class, with parents filled with good intentions. Unfortunately, good intentions do not always make a great parent. I love them unconditionally, but it can not go ignored that some of that played apart in my diagnosis of anorexia. I spent years of my life struggling, and truthfully this is not a struggle that ever disappears entirely. When I was 13 I found myself on a Pro ANA website, and I was enthralled.

From 13 to 16 I called myself Pro ANA. I destroyed the relationships in my life and watched everything fall apart around me. The only solace I was able to find was within the community of Pro ANA. There was support and love and ultimately acceptance. For the first time, people supported me regarless of the decisions I made regarding my disorder.

Now of course, this has its downsides. This also means that the unhealthy decisions are supported, so when I was on a downward slope, I was bound to only get worse. Eventually, at 17, my dad was heartbroken to finally realize how much trouble I was in. He began doing everything he could to help me recover, and I was hospitalized and transported to a recovery center. I was 5'2 and 70 lbs. I was lucky to recover without full relapse, and be able to recognize all of the great and awful things that I learned through Pro ANA culture.

Now, this doesn't seem so objective, does it? Let me assure you that experience alone does not make me an authority.  In fact, I am no authority at all.  What I wish to do is allow you to scroll through my posts and my analysis in order to form your own opinion.  But I have more than just my experience to back me up. I decided to begin research on this culture, and I filtered through bacoodles of academic articles. Now these articles are almost all well written and established. They aren't wrong in what they assess. Unfortunately many of them choose to only focus on one part of the culture that Pro ANA breeds. There are articles about the language used in forums, ( This article focuses more on language and chat rooms. )and there are articles about the websites as static entities ( Here is an article about the websites and their content. ). I don't want to tell you that these articles aren't important, they are! Some even do a great job assesing the culture as a whole.  However, it is impossible to assess the community of Pro ANA by only looking at half of the culture they have created.

In my humble opinion, Pro ANA as a community and culture can only be fully understood by assessing the dynamic between the websites and the content and information they hold, as well as the members of the community themselves and how they thrive through chat rooms and forums. 

So, if you have made it this far into my first post, thank you. I hope that I have convinced you that I am a reliable source with an objective view. I want this to be an open an honest blog that thoroughly analyzes and informs the general public of truth behind the online community of Pro ANA.