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.