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!