I have heard a lot of discussion lately about these Pro-Anorexia websites lately. A lot of people believe they should be illegal because they are a danger to the people who frequent them. Aonorexia is one of those topics that, while serious, you don’t often see being discussed on tech news sites. But like everything else, instructional information about how to maintain an anorexic lifestyle has made its way onto the Internet. Pro-ana has become so popular online that entire communities have formed around such sites, with users sharing tips, providing emotional support, and encouraging each other on their impossible quests for “perfect” bodies.
Some politicians in France believe that those who run pro-anorexia websites should face fines and jail time for promoting an unhealthy lifestyle of excessive thinness. But trying to crack down on these sites not only appears impossible, but counterproductive.
From wikipedia:
Pro-ana refers to the promotion of anorexia nervosa as a lifestyle choice rather than an eating disorder. It is often referred to simply as “ana” and is sometimes affectionately personified by anorexics as a girl named Ana. The lesser-used term pro-mia refers likewise to bulimia nervosa and is sometimes used interchangeably with pro-ana. Pro-ana organizations differ widely in their stances. Most claim that they exist mainly as a non-judgmental environment for anorexics a place to turn to discuss their illness, and support those who choose to enter recovery. Others deny anorexia nervosa is a mental illness and claim instead that it is a “lifestyle choice” that should be respected by doctors and family.
A Chicago-area psychotherapist who works with adolescents who have eating disorders; confirms that eating disorders can be increased by putting girls who suffer from them into group settings with fellow sufferers. “Girls that struggle with anorexia are extremely competitive with each other,” she says, “so groups in general have been contraindicated for their treatment. It spikes the behavior when they get around each other, they start trying to outdo each other in degrees of skinniness.”
While banning these websites might seem to be an appropriate response the issue of Freedom of Speech automatically comes into play. There is a point, though where someone needs to step in and protect the kids that are going on this site and finding strength in numbers to promote their negative and dangerous eating disorders.
Pro-ana websites present exactly this sort of scenario. “Having the websites offline would diminish access to a worldview that is deemed by scientists and psychologists to be incredibly unhealthy, one that can compromise [girls'] health in a very strong way and shorten their lifespans significantly,” says DeVries.
But controlling such sites runs into freedom of speech issues in most democracies; and as the RCP notes, “making them illegal would lead to criminalizing a vulnerable group of young people,” since most sites are set up by people who have an eating disorder themselves.
Instead, the RCP recommends that pro-ana and pro-mia sites become a part of the government’s action plan for Child Internet Safety, which encourages industry self-regulation and education for parents and teachers.
A more effective approach to dealing with pro-ana sites might not be censorship, but education and support services, providing more positive health information, both online and off, for young people struggling with body image issues.
