I have been aware of pro-anorexia blogs and webrings for a while now. It's disturbing and slightly frightening. When a few of them begin hotlinking to a picture of Paris Hilton off of a humor website as a method of "thinspiration," the owner took a unique approach to the problem. Another blog I was reading had linked to this article, and was followed by a string of comments with people saying that what this guy did was mean spirited towards anorexics because what they have is a disorder. A few others even went so far as to say that the mere act of linking to the "pro-ana" blogs was a bad idea as it might prompt someone to come across the site and somehow decide to become anorexic.

I would like to reply first by saying something I say and think a lot. People are fucking stupid. This applies both to the people bitching about this article, but also to the pro-ana morons who feel it is their duty to push an unhealthy lifestyle for the sake of image (and an image that isn't appealing in anyway).

First of all the replacement image the guy made was hardly what I would consider the harshest thing he could have done. It made a point that the creator felt that what these girls (all the blogs I looked at were female owned) were doing was unwise. It didn't directly insult them, or do anything that should make anyone extraordinarily defensive. Besides the girls at fault screwed up in the first place by breaking web ettiquitte and using bandwidth that wasn't theirs. They deserved whatever image came up, and could have had much worse then what they got.

What I found really surprising was that people were objecting to the act of linking to these blogs because it could prompt someone to turn to anorexia. First of all, I have trouble believing that it is likely that anyone coming via a site that obviously thinks that anorexia is terrible, is going to be that easily swayed. More importantly though, is the inherent wrongness of the idea that not linking them is going to fix or improve the problem. It's like saying a newspaper shouldn't report sex crimes because doing so might give others ideas. The problem exists, not acknowleding it merely creates a situation where it isn't believed, or taken seriously.

I have trouble feeling sorry for these girls. Honestly, I have trouble feeling compassion for a lot of people that others pity. I can't feel sorry for serious drug abusers, or people who cut themselves, or people who try to kill themselves. Especially if these people come from relatively comfortable lives. The sad middle class teen who slits his wrist is not a person destined to contribute to society. Anorexics don't seem much different to me. I understand that there are some emotional problems here. I understand that many of these people are coming from cultures and families that glorify the unrealistic but I have trouble feeling sorry for anyone who made all the choices that put them in their negative situation. These blogs are even worse though. These blogs aren't just journals by anorexics. They are by people condoning anorexia and attacking those who think anorexia is terrible.

If you aren't thin you aren't attractive.

2. Being thin is more important than being healthy.

3. You must buy clothes, cut your hair, take laxatives, starve yourself, do anything to make yourself look thinner.

4. Thou shall not eat without feeling guilty.

5. Thou shall not eat fattening food without punishing oneself afterwards.

6. Thou shall count calories and restrict intake accordingly.

7. What the scale says is the most important thing.

8. Losing weight is good/gaining weight is bad.

9. You can never be too thin.

10. Being thin and not eating are signs of true will power and success

This is terrible. This isn't just stupid, or cruel. It's evil. Evil is not a word I use lightly. As an atheist who believes firmly in the subjectivity of morals, it's a word that feels wierd for my to throw around. But in this case, it feels appropriate. This is a group of people who are telling people to treat their bodies like shit because it's better to try for an unrealistic and unhealthy body image then to live a healthy lifestyle. I cannot feel sorry for these people. I have trouble feeling pity just because their entire problem is self inflicted, but to try to convince others to do the same is downright wicked.

-Brandon