Restricting Pro-ana Blogs

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Recommended: Thesis on how social media increases eating disorders

Eating disorders are psychological disorders characterized by abnormal or disturbed eating habit (Nilsson 1).They are self-destructing disorders that either cause excessive eating or limitations on eating, seeing as the disorder is not one that is most pleasant, one would find it hard to imagine that there is a whole online community that promotes the disorder to millions of others with little to no restrictions. This community is known as ‘pro-ana’ or ‘pro-anorexia’. For years ‘pro-ana’ blogs have floated around the inter webs without rules and regulations. Many youths go to websites such as Tumblr and they spend hours looking at images of skinny models and anorexic ‘Tumblr girls’. In this way they themselves begin to lower their own self-esteem and in turn begin living the ‘pro-ana lifestyle’ which includes extreme food restrictions, insane workouts, and punishments if they intake too many calories. The idea of ‘pro ana’ is bad as it is but actually choosing to live that way in order to become skinny is even worse. Because of the harmful nature of ‘pro-ana’ blogs, it would be better if they were supervised and, on occasion where they go too far, terminated. “Pro-ana” is the promotion of anorexia nervosa as a lifestyle choice rather than a mental ailment. 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 disorder. They cause women to 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 and because of the negative effects on the physical and psychological health of young women, these b... ... middle of paper ... ..., 2007. Print Schwarz, Fred. "Not our stars but ourselves: Skinny actresses and models do not make girls anorexic." National Review 2009:Academic OneFile. Web. 22 Nov. 2013. Gregoire, Carolyn. “THE HUNGER BLOGS: A Secret World Of Teenage ‘Thinspiration.’ ” Huffingtonpost.com. Huffington Post, 9 Feb. 2012. Web. 3 Dec. 2012. Nilsson, K, et al. "Causes Of Adolescent Onset Anorexia Nervosa: Patient Perspectives." Eating. Disorders 15.2 (2007): 125-133.CINAHL Complete. Web. 22 Nov. 2013. 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

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