Down the Pro-Ana Rabbit Hole

Anorexia is not new. It is not new to the internet and it is certainly not new to society. The cultural awareness of Anorexia had led to a situation where often when one hears the words Eating Disorder (ED) they think Anorexia. In fact there are many types of ED, the term itself leaves the definition open to any ‘abnormal’ eating patterns to be considered disordered. There has, however, always been what I like to call the ‘Golden Triumvirate’ of EDs, Anorexia, Bulimia and Compulsive (or Binge) Eating Disorder. Anorexia, in particular, has been publicly part of our culture since the late 1970’s to the early 1980’s. This is largely attributed to two things. Firstly, the move of Anorexia from solely a medical condition to the acknowledgement of something psychological, which is attributed to Hilde Bruch who published The Golden Cage: The Enigma of Anorexia Nervosa in 1978. Secondly, Karen Carpenter’s death in 1983 from heart failure attributed to her long term suffering of anorexia. Carpenter’s death was the first time someone in the public eye died from such a secretive, and largely (even now) misunderstood illness. Carpenter’s death was so significant to Anorexia that Wikipedia has a section on Carpenter’s death in it’s ‘History of Anorexia Nervosa’ page. As a result of Carpenter’s death Anorexia moved from a very private illness to a public cause. There now exists thousands of books (medical, psychological and personal memoirs) about the illness, there are support groups, ED units in hospitals and although it is not enough, and probably will never be enough, Anorexia has been in the public eye for many years and now (sadly) it has formed a part of our cultural history.

As the topic of Anorexia is in our society already, the conversation in the news and media on Anorexia ebbs and flows depending on what is happening in the world. The internet is no different in this regard. By 2001 newspapers and magazines were covering the disturbing trend of ‘Pro-Ana’ and ‘Pro-Mia’ websites. To contextualise the importance of 2001 for the internet’s history, it was the end of the ‘Dot-Com’ Bubble, it was early in the internet’s now rich history, but that year was to be the defining moment of the internet’s development.

It comes as no surprise now that the internet has always, and probably will always, be a haven for the dark, the dangerous and the unhealthy, the internet in its purest form is uncensored, and uncensored topics will always cover that which many people see as insidious. But by July 2001 the public outcry at what we now accept as ‘the darkside’ of internet culture was reaching fever pitch with Pro-Ana sites facing their first experience under the media microscope as journalists and experts condemned the effect that these sites would have on people already suffering from Anorexia and those that were at risk of developing Anorexia as a result of these sites. Yahoo! was the first battlefield, by July 30th 2001 Yahoo! had taken down over one-hundred Pro-Ana sites. Pro-Ana sites that survived the purge either by going under the radar or using different means of hosting and creating, began to carry warnings, telling users in advance what the content posted would be or they began to carry links to pro-recovery sites which resulted in some success. This was as a direct result of the media and political pressure on companies like Yahoo!.

By 2007, much like the real societal path of Anorexia, interest and outrage at Pro-Ana websites had ebbed and flowed. For some the lack of outcry meant that the methods were working and that the Pro-Ana websites were being systematically removed. They weren’t. Instead there was a second explosion of Pro-Ana blogs and social media pages. ‘Thinspo’ (images/videos/quotes that inspire viewers to stay thin) became trending hashtags, fan pages on Facebook were full of Thinspo content and the blogs grew and grew. The proliferation of blogs, in particular, allowed sufferers to be heard more, they bit back and spoke of getting ‘support’ or ‘understanding’ from fellow sufferers, all of which could be considered positive. I have no doubt that visitors to these sites gain comfort, the desire to know you are not alone is one of the main facets of the human condition. We are, by our very nature, social creatures. There was a certain AA mentality, the idea that they were sharing and helping each other. My problem was and is, is that an AA meeting is not held in a bar, it is held with alcoholics, but the leader of the group does not throw pictures of alcohol up onto large bulletin boards with quotes like ‘Nothing feels as good as being drunk’ because that would be counter-productive and unhealthy. Much like the support that is given and received on Pro-Ana sites.

The reason ‘Pro-Ana’ is back in the news has to do with the growth not only of social media but of unique sites like Tumblr and Pinterest. Pinterest is a fascinating site, essentially it’s online scrap-booking. The majority of Pinterest users are women, the most common boards are wedding boards, recipe boards and cute animal boards. It’s a lovely site and as a user myself I’ve found it very colorful, easy to use and creative. The flip side is it had an almost overwhelming amount of Pro-Ana content. Similarly to Yahoo! before it, when the media attention got too much Pinterest banned the use of self-harm including (but not limited to) Pro-Ana or Thinspo boards. It followed Tumblr who worked with the National Eating Disorders Association in the US to change Tumblr’s user policy to reflect that self-harm promotion was not permitted. Tumblr had followed Facebook who also worked with the NEDA to change it’s Terms of Service to stop the proliferation of Pro-Ana content.

I had hoped to end this blog here. I had hoped to say ‘Tra-lah-lah all is right with the world’ but no. Already, there is a move of Pro-Ana content away from places like Tumblr and Pinterest to Instagram, a photo sharing site. As with the first wave of Pro-Ana content that gained notoriety in 2001 we are now in the second phase. Censorship is considered the enemy of the internet. Yet, is what’s happening with Pinterest and Tumblr censorship? No. They are privately owned sites that can do whatever the hell they want as long as they make you aware they’re doing it. There might, however be a larger problem then internet censorship; by removing Pro-Ana content from well known sites the risk is that Pro-Ana will be pushed underground. This is no different to what happened during the first wave of Pro-Ana sites, or even what has happened for years in society itself. There is always an ebb and a flow. Interest wanes in the topic of Anorexia because society does not want to acknowledge the larger problem: that society is partly responsible. Thinness is considered the height of physical attraction, movie stars, television stars, models and musicians are pressured to stay thin or get thin and when someone breaks apart from the ‘norm’ in music or fashion it’s all anyone can talk about. Anorexia has reached the level of awareness in society not only because it is considered to be the most dangerous of ED’s but because it is the most visible, and let’s face it most understandable. The diet industry in the US alone is worth $59.7 billion, because people want to be thin, or thinner. Yet bulimia which is widely practiced skates under the radar. There are, as already mentioned Pro-Mia sites online, yet in researching this article, news and media coverage of them was limited to an aside or an ‘as well as Pro-Ana’. I won’t go into societies complete blindness when it comes to the very real issue of compulsive over-eating.

Pro-Ana sites and content will never fully disappear, especially not in a world where facebook status updates about what you had for dinner, or blogs that allow you to fully and anonymously express yourself exist. No one wants to shut the internet down, so what do we do? We start outside and work in. In the 29 years since Karen Carpenter has died progress has been made. Anorexia is no longer referred to as ‘the slimmers disease’ or considered ‘a diet gone too far’ yet society had stagnated. The discussion of EDs is cyclical, it is the same telling over and over again of the causes and effects of EDs. Fingers are pointed at the fashion industry or models or celebrities who are too thin. The internet is no different, there are over-reactions and there are under-reactions, there are never simply, reactions. I have no solution for the proliferation of Pro-Ana sites, or even EDs in general. There is no quick fix. There is no doubt though that the internet is a microcosm of global society and the path that the recent reaction to Pro-Ana sites has mirrored societies; outrage, action and finally amnesia. We forget that this is not just about food, not just about thinness it is about society, internet society and global society.

The internet was created to forge a new society, one where information could be gained and shared, there was and is, a utopic vision for the internet, the problem is we took all of societies bullshit with us.