Pro-Ana and Media Exposure

I would have never known pro-ana sites existed if I hadn't seen them featured on an episode of Boston Public.

KTVU, KCRA, New York Times, Time magazine, and WebMD have all run or are going to run stories featuring this site.

How many girls would have never known about this place if it weren't for those stories?

You say it's our fault that young girls (and boys) are becoming anorexic. They go to pro-ana sites and "learn" all the tips and tricks; they pick up the self-hating attitudes; they get sick because we make them sick.

But... who told them about it? The average person, even one who's unhappy with his/her weight, would NEVER go looking for a place like this. They would have no motivation, and probably no knowledge that there even were such places.

We don't advertise, you know. Without media coverage sites like this would remain hidden from the public eye, accessed only by those people who are anorexic, bulimic, or EDNOS and who know that they exist. We are hidden even from ourselves.

But point a camera at one of these sites and suddenly thousands of people know about them.

So now, not only are people being bombarded with images of skinny, beautiful people; not only are people constantly reading articles about how to "lose weight and feel great"; not only are people living in an image obsessed society that already borders on being an incubator for anorexia...

they're also being handed the keys to a dangerous, deadly world that they would have never known existed were it not for some reporter. Yes, sites like this exist on the web and are publicly accessible. But seriously, why would anyone without an eating disorder go looking for help in hiding it?