Blog Post #7: Anti-ana

Pro-ana as a short form for pro-anorexia is a term for people who think that it’s their choice to have an eating disorder. There are Pro-ana websites where people are talking about their own tips on ‘how to be thinner’ or ‘how to have anorexia nervosa’, and these sites are more common in women. Seriously, are these pro-ana websites encouraging people to have eating disorders? Or are they just supporting and giving love and acceptance for people who have anorexia? From the point of view of pro-ana sites, they don’t encourage people to develop an eating disorder. They said that it is a person’s choice to go into those kinds of online community. They are just offering a place where a person’s condition is wholly accepted and understood if she is not being treated the way she wants. But, from the opinion of other people, they think that pro-ana is unacceptable because it can affect many teenage girls and younger children to be thin or have anorexia nervosa than to have a healthy body.

Franca Sozzani (right) editor-in-chief of Vogue Italia

There may be a lot of people who are against pro-ana because of the obviousness that it is not a healthy lifestyle choice to be adapted by people especially women. There is an article I had read entitled Vogue campaign takes on pro-anorexia websites written by John Hooper from the site theguardian.com wherein the author wrote about the Italian Vogue editor Franca Sozzani who launched a petition calling for law against sites that promote eating disorder.

“There are thousands of these sites and blogs which don’t just support this evil, but push young people into competition over the physical shape,” said Franca Sozzani.

In Franca’s blog, in which she announced a petition calling for legislation to close down such sites, she said that pro-ana sites should prove a kind of open confessional and support for those who are unable to carry on by themselves along a road can only lead to death. The Vogue editor-in-chief are really against pro-ana because of a tragic consequence last November 2007, wherein a French model named Isabelle Caro had died at the age of 28 because of anorexia nervosa. It is also not Vogue’s first campaign in the area of eating disorder. In 2009, the Editor of Vogue, Alexandra Shulman, had written to designers accusing them of sending fashion magazines smaller garments for photo-shoots, thus forcing them to hire models with jutting bones and no breasts or lips. Some commentators criticized Vogue’s publication because they argue that those models’ images were the reason for the spread of anorexia, bulimia, and similar disorders.

“Sozzani said fashion devotees failed to understand that “models in most cases are naturally slender because they are still very young and not yet fully developed.” John Hooper said.

What I think Sozzani wants for young people to know about pro-ana is that Anorexia is a harmful activity and she doesn’t encourage this activity. She doesn’t want to see young girls developing an eating disorder and considering those conditions as their friend. She also wants to ban Pro-Ana’s thinspiration advices like, “tape/tack up pictures of your favorite models and always carry one around with you. When you are hungry, pull out the picture.” Sozzani said that most models are naturally-born slender so girls don’t need to have eating disorder like anorexia nervosa if they want to be like their supermodel idols. 

There is another article I read wherein the writer talked about a campaign for anti-anorexia, this article is entitled Powerful anti-anorexia ad campaign tells women 'you are not a sketch' using models with fashion illustration proportions written by a daily mail reporter from dailymail.co.uk. The writer wrote, "Star models, a modeling agency based in Brazil has released a graphic new anti-anorexia ad campaign, using Photoshop to turn models into life-size fashion illustrations."  

The ads which run with a tag line saying 'Say not to anorexia' showed fashion illustrations with exaggerated proportions next to a model wearing the same outfits and the same measurements. The graphic ad-campaign has been used to as a powerful ad which is hopeful that it will send an effective anti-anorexia message against thinspiration blogs and pro-anorexia websites. A commentator named Adam Green liked the ads because according to him they address the issue that anorexia seemed to stem from the inability for people to distinguish reality from fiction. Another one named Liz Osborne-Leavell said that it sends a powerful message because it's a literal visualization of what the fashion industry sets the standards at. However, one commenter wrote, 'Unfortunately I think some women could look to these images for thinspiration'. Another one stated 'It is a good campaign for young girls who have not yet succumbed to the thin culture of our country, but for those who are already truly anorexic, these models are their goal'.

"I've seen models regularly in magazines as thin as the ones shown in this ad. Nothing is going to change until models who are not skeleton thin are hired and photographed in fashion magazines and fashion shows." one commentator said. 

The graphic ad is a brilliant idea to promote anti-anorexia but I don't think that it will be very powerful for those people who are in the pro-ana community. Like what the other commentator said, they will find this ad as an inspiration rather than a warning. They will think that they might look better if their bodies are like sketch of models. And for the last commentator who said that he had seen many models in magazines who are as thin like the sketch, I somewhat agree to his statement that nothing is going to change if models in fashion magazines and fashion shows are still like skeleton thin. They should now start hiring models that are not anorexic and naturally thin. 

Pro-ana and pro-mia sites are only accessible in the Internet and Social media is one of its hosts. From the thousands of people who are now having pleasure in Social media, I don't think think at no one never see any pictures and images when they are opening their accounts. They always see a lot of pictures from these social media and those who have anorexia nervosa may find images and quotes that can be helpful for them, they may be looking for thinspiration for those who wants to join pro-ana or recovery quotes for those who don't want to be anorexic anymore. I read an article entitled Social media sites need to do more to eliminate pro-anorexia messages, but they aren't behind the rise in eating disorder by Ilona Burton from the site independent.co.uk, Ilona says "It may sound far-fetched to hear that a bunch of photographs blogged and hash-tagged alongside 'motivational' quotes on social websites aimed at young people are actually easily accessible breeding grounds for a whole host of dangerous beliefs and behaviors such as starvation, depression, loneliness, self-harm and suicidal ideation, but sadly, it's true".

Ilona Burton is not talking about catwalk models or airbrushed celebrities and some slogans saying 'Nothing tastes like skinny feels', she wants to talk about the emaciated bodies on the brink of death. For many, social websites are the only place that young people feel they can openly express the way they feel, where they can gain immediate acceptance and support; it's a safe place for them but sometimes it can be extremely addictive. The Independent on Sunday revealed that number of children and teenagers seeking help for eating disorders has risen by 110 percent in the past three years. The headline attributed this dramatic increase to the social media, but there is no scapegoat for eating disorders. There is no one person, group of people, movement, motion or thing at which they we can point the figure and say "That's why this happens" or "This is why the numbers are increasing". It belittles those who suffer from the fact that an eating disorder is a mental illness and a deadly one. In 2012, some leading social media platform took action against pro-anorexia and pro self-harm. Instagram says "Any account found encouraging or urging users to embrace anorexia, bulimia, or other eating disorders... will result in a disabled account with a warning." Facebook says "Facebook takes threats of self-harm very seriously. We remove any promotion or encouragement or eating disorders." Aside from Instagram and Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Tumblr also participated in the anti-anorexia.

"In the main, they have each failed miserably. Part of the problem is that if one hashtag is blocked, another similar shortened or misspelled version appears and the same material is replicated there instead. The alternative hashtag will be listed alongside those that are accepted and bam, it grows into its own." Burton says.

Many people wants to inspire others so they like to share something substantial to the public. In Instagram, people upload their photos and put hashtag captions with it. But, according to Burton's opinion, she have realized that Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr, etc. have miserably failed to communicate to the social media users the dark side of eating disorders. She said that in Instagram, although #thinspiration and #pro-ana will be blocked in the public, there will be a chance for naughty people to make an alternative hashtag, shortened or misspelled versions for it. Therefore, pro-anorexia will still remain in the social media.

Pro-anorexia is becoming widely-known and they are continually influencing teenagers because of social factors like fashion magazines, fashion shows, and the social media. Fashion magazine's editor-in-chief, article writers, commentators, and social media users are bashing and sharing their best comments and reactions for pro-anorexia. Although, a lot of people are against pro-ana community, other people think that is hard to eliminate them especially in the social media because of the adamant people involved in those kind of community, but it doesn't mean that those people who are against will give up to fight for their arguments. If you don't want to live in a place where all of the people you see are like skeleton thin, then don't try to be a pro-ana but instead be someone that can change a pro-ana.