Pro-Ana Blogs Scare Me

Pro-Ana blogs scare me. It’s because on these blogs eating less than 600 calories a day is seen as a success. I know I agree with them to some extent because my intentions are always to basically be anorexic, and I think that’s part of it. Then there’s also the fact that 600 calories a day is not a lot. In fact it’s less than enough calories than the body needs to stay alive every day.  Even someone who’s 100 pounds (which is very light for the average height woman) needs at least 1000 calories just for her body to carry out its normal function. That people can see 600 calories as more than enough is painful. And it’s so wrong that it’s scary.

I’m not telling anyone who’s anorexic that I think they should stop their eating disorder, and I’m not trying to judge them. Honest. I’m just scared for their health.

Pro-eating disorder blogs are not bad, in my opinion. Yes, they can spread tips about how to ruin your throat by vomiting, or let someone know the secret to stop eating forever, but if someone is going to become eating disordered, I don’t think any blog could cause that, nor would the absence of one stop the disordered behavior from occurring.

Along the same lines, the other complaint I can see about pro-ana/mia blogs is that they offer positive reinforcement for eating disordered behaviors, which might perpetuate the illness. Again, I consider this argument irrelevant because there are many many benefits to eating disorders other than those found on blogs. There’s a reason why we stick with these things for so long.

Pro-eating disorder blogs do offer a community to the person with the eating disorder. So at least there’s someone somewhere to talk to.

As a side note, the pro-mia blogs don’t scare me a bit, only the pro-ana ones. I hope one day I’m scared by both kinds.