The "pro-ana" movement -- WTF?

get in line, CWL!

i don't want to start demonising anyone, but this whole anti- fat/weight thing thats going on in the pro-ana "you fat bitch" etc - is that some kind of hyperbole that is just meant for each other, or are they really judging everybody else in the world for being healthy or fat?

it depends...i know people who do both.

this upsets me because i know too many people who take this too seriously, who read these sites and cry and stop eating. or who read these sites and are excited and exercise more because eating nothing isn't enough. Luckily I've never had serious issues myself but too many people do. Crippling your mind with constant thoughts of "perfecting" your body until it gives out on you...that's so sad. I honestly don't know how much of it is conscious and how much of it is compulsion due to illness but if it's a lifestyle choice it's destructive. And I still don't think it should be censored so I don't know what to say.

annorexia is good!

Stop showing your ignorance.

The fact of the matter is, anorexics fall under our constitution as people, therefore giving them the right to free speech. In simpler terms, not a single anorexic out there is going to care if you have a problem with it, because they are legally allowed to do what they are doing. Anyone can make a website about anything they want, and maybe in some cases that's a bad thing.
There are some bright sides. Anorexics have a tendancy to lie to those that want to help them. Going to one of these sites provides you with a true sample of what goes on in an anorexics head everytime he/she looks at themself. True, alot of the people that visit these sites are not diagnosed anorexics, but that can't be avoided.
As a diagnosed sufferer of Anorexia, I think these sites are not to be condemned. They offer a place to truely feel what one feels, with out getting beaten up and left bleeding in the hallway of your highschool for having a mental condition. I'm aware that the "tips/tricks" offered on these websites aren't the best things, but please realize that none of these individuals can honestly feel okay with themselves and safe. Everyone could use someone who understands perfectly.

What I always find really horrifying about anorexia is I've seen a couple of documentaries on TV that are about 'How families suffer' - eg what the family of an anorexic has to go through while the naughty girl kills herself. And then you're watching and feeling helplessly bitter at these families where no-one talks to each other, where they're so locked up and silent and cruel, but they don't even realise. I always wish I could scream in their faces 'talk to your fucking daughter, cuddle her, stop thinking about yourself ...' Maybe it's just coincidence and some anorexic girls don't come from families like this.

Actually, I guess what I wrote may be a 'slight' oversimplification of the problem. It's something that's so hard to talk about, but then, that's what I felt was so painful watching these documentaries, and reading things anorexics have written - everyone finds it so hard to talk about.

Contrast to this story: Eat 30% Less, Live 30% Longer...
http://www.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/11/07/calories.aging/index.html