Journal of International Women's Studies
Volume 4
Issue 2 Harvesting our Strengths: Third Wave
Feminism and Women’s Studies
Article 4
Apr-2003
The Ana Sanctuary: Women’s Pro-Anorexia
Narratives in Cyberspace
Karen Dias
This item is available as part of Virtual Commons, the open-access institutional repository of Bridgewater State University, Bridgewater, Massachusetts.
Recommended Citation
Dias, Karen (2003). The Ana Sanctuary: Women’s Pro-Anorexia Narratives in Cyberspace. Journal of International Women's Studies,
4(2), 31-45.
Available at: http://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol4/iss2/4
The Ana Sanctuary:
Women’s Pro-Anorexia Narratives in Cyberspace
By Karen Diasi
Abstract
This article explores cyberspace as a site in which women who are struggling with
anorexia can find sanctuary from the surveillance of the public sphere. Feminist
geographical and sociological work on the body and critical analysis of medical and
psychiatric discourses inform the analyses of the text, narratives and images presented. I
locate women’s (dis)embodied cyberspace experiences in the context of the
pathologization of women and within attempts to silence their voices. Through these
women’s narratives, women’s engagement in the interpretation of their experiences can
be observed. What women struggling with anorexia may not be able or ready to say to
family, friends or professionals, they express in the “safer” space of cyberspace.
Dominant cultural scripts about their bodies are reproduced, negotiated and/or resisted in
their narratives.
Key Words: third wave feminism, pro-anorexia, cyberspace
* * *
In this paper I explore cyberspace as a space in which women who are struggling
with anorexia can potentially find sanctuary from the surveillance and regulatory
mechanisms of control of the public sphere. I explore the narratives of women who
create and visit pro-anorexia or pro-ana websites.ii
Taking seriously the voices of these
women can be viewed as a transgressive act, in contrast to hegemonic biomedical and
psychiatric discourses of anorexia that portray women with eating disorders as ‘irrational’
and ‘in denial’ of their behavior, and pathologize and medicalize their experiences.
However, through their narratives we see how dominant cultural scripts about their
bodies are reproduced, negotiated and/or resisted. We can also observe women’s
engagement in the interpretation of their own experiences. The transient and fluid nature
of pro-ana websites (in response to the backlash they receive) also illustrates the
resilience of the women who seek them out and (re)create them. Just as the body is a site
of struggle (and resistance), so too there are struggles over where and how women’s
stories of their body can be told.
Given that women’s bodies and experiences of embodiment are subjected to
relentless surveillance in the public sphere (Bray and Colebrook “Haunted”), cyberspace
can potentially provide a space for women to meet safely as opposed to traditional public
spaces and places in the built environment.iii
Cyberspace can be conceptualized as an
alternative space for women with eating and body issues, one that may serve as a
sanctuary.iv
Since the public realm is regulated by banishing from sight behaviors that are
considered abnormal, repugnant or deviant (Duncan), cyberspace can provide a space to
escape the scrutiny of others (though perhaps not self-scrutiny), as well as the opportunity
to interact with others struggling with eating disorders. This could be helpful since the
early stages of anorexia are usually marked by extreme isolation, secrecy, and
disconnection. Ironically, cyberspace is a public space. While in contemporary Western
Journal of International Women’s Studies Vol 4 #2 April 2003 31
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culture, not interacting within the public spaces of society is considered abnormal and
unhealthy, occupying public spaces and revealing one’s abnormality or deviance is
considered equally if not more unhealthy (Bankey). The backlash these websites have
received from the media and professionals in the field, which I will discuss later in this
article, has been extensive. The stigma and shame that come with both diagnostic
labeling and society’s misunderstanding of eating “disorders” contribute to women’s
need to find creative ways to connect and find support. In contrast to the dominant
discourses of anorexia and eating disorders in general, my research is informed by these
women’s narratives in an attempt to access alternative definitions and understandings that
they may have of their own mental states (Parr 183).v
Narratives may embody,
reproduce, and/or alter cultural scripts; they may also push at the boundaries of what is
unsayable and untellable in particular contexts (Chase 24). What women struggling with
anorexia may not be able (or ready) to say to family, friends or professionals, they may
be able to say in the safer and less confronting space of cyberspace.
Third Wave Feminism
The issue of body image has been named as a central issue in third wave feminism
because all women, feminist or not, “offer heartfelt and complex emotions on the topic”
(Richards 198). Third wave feminists have directed much of their attention to the impact
that popular culture has on their subjective experiences, rather than adopting legal or
political strategies, because they see “the media and entertainment industries [are their]
most visible ‘oppressors’” (Richards 198) and an analysis and critique of popular culture
as important to the political struggle towards female empowerment. Popular culture,
“fueled by feminist backlash and capitalism, has focused a great deal of attention on
young women and their bodies,” propagating contradictory messages (that often use coopted
feminist language) of female control and agency alongside images of unattainable
feminine beauty (Carter 120-1). For many young women their bodies have become
“arenas for feelings [they] don’t deal with, for unresolved traumas and injustices” (Edut
xx). The epidemic of eating disorders and body dissatisfaction among women in Western
industrialized countries (and increasingly globally) reflects the consequences of these
contradictions. Third wave feminists’ narratives, like those of pro-anorexics, illustrate
the dilemmas young women today face in negotiating culture’s stifling emphasis on
hegemonic feminine beauty ideals while trying to enact agency through negotiations of
their identities.
A question I grapple with in my research is whether women’s behavior on these
websites may be considered feminist without being overtly political, and conversely
whether it can be considered political without being overtly feminist. I see this dilemma
as a central tension in third wave feminism, especially in regard to the second wave
critique that young women today are self-absorbed and inactive (Baumgardner and
Richards 86) and apathetic to the work of the second wave (Walker xxxi). Third wave
feminists are attempting to “contest a politics of purity that would separate political
activism from cultural production” (Heywood and Drake, “We Learn” 51) and recognize
the importance of individual experiences and personal narratives to speak to social and
political dynamics. Third wave feminists address the “need for greater acceptance of
complexities, ambiguities, and multiple locations, and highlight the dangers of reduction
into dichotomous thinking” (Pinterics 16). They locate their theory in everyday
Journal of International Women’s Studies Vol 4 #2 April 2003 32
experiences, involving the negotiation with and recognition of multiple identities and
femininities. Though third wave feminism may not have a clear definition of itself or of
feminism, it is a movement that is encouraging and creating solidarity among women on
the basis of challenging dominant power relations. This article reflects upon the
connection and solidarity created through pro-anorexia websites which may serve to
challenge and subvert these power relations.
Methods
The notion of “ethical” Internet research is a current and ongoing topic of debate.
The Internet provides many ambiguous areas in terms of what constitutes ethical research
of widely accessible material. Because many on-line sites are openly accessible to the
public, obtaining informed consent is often not done.vi
However, care needs to be taken
to exercise that the “fair use” of contributions to public forums respects participants’
privacy and protects them from harm. My research is a feminist postructuralist discourse
analysis of the data I have collected from various pro-ana websites since September 2001.
For the purposes of this article I have chosen to highlight narratives that illustrate one
major theme that emerged continually on these websites: alternative discourses of
anorexia and eating disorders in general. In order to guarantee participants’
confidentiality, I have removed all names and pseudonyms. I have only accessed
publicly available information from pro-ana websites; that is, I have not accessed any
forums or chat rooms that required a password, pseudonym or my participation. I have
not asked participants any direct questions, nor have I directly interacted with them in any
way. Though most of the links to the websites I am referencing are no longer active – for
reasons I will address later in this article – I have chosen not to provide any links in
referencing my sources in order to further protect the women’s privacy, referencing them
anonymously. I have, however, referenced some narratives that derive from a forum
provided by an eating disorder support organization discussing pro-anorexia websites.
This organization is not connected with, nor allows, links to any pro-anorexia websites.
Figure 1 - Homepage for a pro-anorexia website.
I also want to acknowledge the controversial nature of this subject matter. I have
professional work experience as a counselor working with this group, as well as personal
Journal of International Women’s Studies Vol 4 #2 April 2003 33
experience with disordered eating. I have sensitivity and empathy towards women with
eating disorders, which I bring to my work as a social scientist and researcher. My intent,
by putting these women’s narratives at the center of my research is to listen to and take
seriously their voices; voices which are subversive because they exist.
Pro-anorexia Websites
Pro-anorexia (or pro-ana) websites are a genre of websites disseminating
information about eating disorders, primarily anorexia nervosa, and providing girls and
women with a forum to discuss and share information about ana.vii
There is usually a
warning on the first page, alerting viewers that the site contains pro-anorexia information,
to enter at their own risk, and not to enter if they are recovering from an eating disorder
(Figure 2).
Figure 2 - The warning page on a pro-anorexia website.
Welcome to this Pro-Ana (Mia)viii
Support Group. We are about
encouragement, support, and assistance, to others like us who live with an ED
and suffer with the problems that go along with it…This site does not
encourage that you develop an eating disorder. This is a site for those who
ALREADY have an eating disorder and do not wish to go into recovery.
Some material in here may be triggering. If you do not already have an eating
Journal of International Women’s Studies Vol 4 #2 April 2003 34
disorder, better it is that you do not develop one now. You SHOULD leave.
(Anonymous, Pro-Anorexia Site, 25 Oct 2002; emphasis in original)
Most sites make it quite clear that their purpose is to support those who are struggling
with an eating disorder, and to provide a space, free from judgment, where they can share
ideas and offer encouragement to those who are not yet ready to recover. Some of the
homepages of these websites display images of emaciated and skeletal bodies (Figure 3).
Figure 3 - Homepage of a pro-anorexia website.
The primary purpose of these sites seems, on first contact, to promote and support
anorexia, including detailed “how to” sections. These sites tend to have common features
such as: bulletin boards and chat rooms; diaries (website owners post their diaries online,
often keeping viewers up-to-date daily on calorie intake or avoidance, relapses,
recommitments, etc.); tips and tricks (e.g. ideas for dieting, food avoidance, distractions
from hunger, etc.); trigger pictures or thinspirations (pictures of ultra-thin, emaciated
bodies to inspire loyalty to the regime and distractions from hunger); and, links to other
pro-ana sites, often in the form of web-rings.ix
Some also have poetry, lyrics, stories,
treatment information and general information about anorexia, and related issues.
Figure 4 - A collage of mainstream images of celebrities and fashion models.
Most of the images of thinness and emaciation common on the sites are mainstream
pictures of celebrities or fashion models, sometimes collages of both (Figure 4). Some
Journal of International Women’s Studies Vol 4 #2 April 2003 35
mimic themes commonly found in advertising, such as dismemberment, where bodies are
hacked apart, and certain body parts are focused upon (Figure 5).
Figure 5 - A collage of images allegedly created as a self-portrait of the website owner.
If the models and celebrities were not familiar to us, it would be very difficult to discern
between the “deviant” bodies of the anorexics and the “normal” and “acceptable” bodies
of the models. All of the images highlight the glaringly contradictory messages women
receive about appearance and their bodies.
Backlash and Flaming
Pro-anorexia websites have caused a huge uproar in the media, the medical
community, among parents of anorexics and among recovering anorexics. In July 2001
an American eating disorder advocacy group, ANAD (Anorexia Nervosa and Associated
Disorders), made pleas to servers like Yahoo to take down these sites, with 115 sites shut
down four days later (Reaves). Many other servers followed suit, with several sites
disappearing daily. It is very difficult to locate pro-ana sites consistently – sites found
one day are often shut down the next. All the original twenty-seven sites I have been
researching since September 2001 are now gone. Yet new sites keep emerging,
sometimes only accessible to those that apply directly to the site-owner – one strategy
these women use to avoid having their sites shut down. The women visiting these sites
are well aware of the animosity towards them. Many sites post letters from the media
that condemn their behavior, sometimes as a form of inspiration to keep going. The
ability to resist and subvert the policing of web servers and critics attests to the fluidity of
these spaces and the resilience of their users. The paradox of theorizing these sites as
potential safe spaces for these women to meet and support each other is that ultimately
these women do not have control over these spaces.
In mainstream media critiques of pro-ana sites, the website owners are blamed for
causing and promoting a “deadly disease,” and the “horrors” of the contents of their sites
are displayed and discussed. What are absent from these critiques are the women’s own
voices, as well as mention of the broader and more complex historical, political and
social factors contributing to the epidemic of eating disorders in the first place. The
following comes from a forum user, not a journalist:
You people are seriously sick! You're nothing but slaves to the media. You
say you do this for YOU to make yourself feel better. Bullsh*t. You
wouldn’t feel bad about yourselves if you didn’t have a distorted perception
Journal of International Women’s Studies Vol 4 #2 April 2003 36
of perfection. You people need to do a hell of a lot more than lose weight,
you need to get some self-esteem. Go to counseling. Being thin is not going
to make you happy. Everyone has problems and you think being anorexic is
going to make them easier??…The makers of this site ought to be ashamed of
themselves. (S.C.a.R.E.D. Forum User, 2001-2002; emphasis in original)
Congruent with medical and psychiatric discourses about the “irrational” and “distorted”
(individual) thinking patterns of those with eating disorders, we are left with the
impression that the problem lies here, in these individual women and the “outrageous”
practices that they endorse via the Internet.
The assumption, evident in most popular notions about eating disorders, is that
these women are conforming to dominant notions of femininity. The American
Psychiatric Association’s diagnostic criteria for anorexia nervosa outlines women’s
refusal to maintain a “normal” body weight, intense fear of gaining weight or becoming
fat, and disturbance in the way body weight or shape is experienced.x
Yet what is not
acknowledged is the extreme fat prejudice in Western society, and the intolerance for a
diversity of sizes and shapes that may drive women and girls to extreme behaviors to
avoid discrimination:
Let me tell you something… I’ve been fat all my life (it hasn’t been that long,
I know. I’m only 15), but now I’m trying to change that. People with ED’s
are everywhere. I realized this when I had one (bulimia). I know two girls,
not including myself, that are bulimic, and at least one that is anorexic. I live
in a TINY town, and it is very uncommon to find so many people in the same
age group that are suffering from the same things. I never knew about my
friends’ problems; and even though I do now, we never talk about them.
Being overweight and being teased, left out, criticized, etc. can screw up a
little girl’s mind. I wouldn’t tell anyone to do what I do, but if they do it on
their own, they have their reasons. All my friends with ED’s, including
myself, are happier thin than they were fat. Insults and cruelty are easier to
handle if they come from yourself. (S.C.a.R.E.D. Forum User, 2001-2002)
What is also not discussed are the normative dieting and weight loss behaviors that may
also be viewed as conforming to hegemonic notions of femininity, but in ways that are
socially sanctioned and seen as legitimate.
Let me tell you girls, I am in great shape, but NOT anorexic. I am 5'4 120
lbs. There is not an inch of fat on me. I eat healthy and work out regularly. I
have a wonderfully fit & curvaceous body. I am proof that you can have a
great body and not starve yourself into a bony skeleton. (S.C.a.R.E.D.
Forum User, 2001-2002)
Rarely mentioned or taken into consideration in mainstream interpretations of these
websites are other possible causes of their behavior, aside from conformity and “slavery
to the media,” such as sexual or physical abuse, oppression, discrimination, harassment,
violence, or trauma.xi
Journal of International Women’s Studies Vol 4 #2 April 2003 37
Pro-anorexia Narratives
What does it mean that these women are exposing very personal narratives of their
struggles with their bodies, in a very public space?
Why am I doing this, letting my self be vulnerable to the world wide audience
of the web? because I want to help people battle this, and I want to win my
own battle. I don’t know if this will actually help anyone, and I don’t expect
too many people would be that interested in my insanity but I don’t care what
people think I am going to say my peace. ***Plus I can be totally
anonymous*** (Anonymous)
These women, unlike the portrayals of them as being in denial, are actually quite
articulate and seemingly aware of their circumstances:
What does pro-ED (pro-ana) mean to me?
People with eating disorders are isolated and surrounded by people who don't
understand what we think or feel…. Some of us need our EDs still and aren’t
ready to recover. Eating disorders are dangerous, and ignorance compounds
that. We can’t go ask for safe advice from non-EDs without a risk of being
hospitalized or shunned. Pro-ED to me means understanding that there’s no
shame in how we are, and acceptance that this is how we will continue to be
for an indefinite period of time. It means support for us so we don't have to
deal with this alone. It means nonjudgmental help so we can survive and
remain as safe and healthy as possible while maintaining the behaviors we
still need to keep. Pro-ED to me does not mean recruiting, encouraging or
teaching others to be anorexic, encouraging excessively dangerous practices,
or starving to death. (Anonymous)
Some of the themes illustrated in these narratives came up repeatedly on pro-anorexia
websites: not feeling understood by those around them; feeling out of control; feeling
isolated and in pain; using the eating disorder as a form of coping and a security blanket;
recognizing that they still need that security blanket even thought they are aware of the
potential dangers of anorexia; needing support and connection; feeling ambivalent
towards both ana and recovery; and, resisting dominant interpretations of their
experiences of disordered eating.
In speaking about this phenomenon with therapists who work with this population
and women who have recovered from eating disorders, I have heard such comments as:
• “Well, it is not like this has not been going on behind closed doors anyway. It is
probably shocking to those who were not previously aware of this behavior.”
• “Even before these websites it was possible to get plenty of tips and tricks from
books, movies, magazines, biographies, and other girls.”
• “When I was going through my eating disorder it certainly would have been
comforting to have people to talk to before I was ready to get help.”
• “These websites seem to defy the behavior typical of anorexics, who usually keep
their behavior very secretive.”
In the therapeutic community it is increasingly recognized that there are different stages
of readiness for change.xii
In the early stages of anorexia, before a person is ready to
accept help, treatment is usually not very successful. This means that women typically
do not get support unless they are forced into treatment or until they speak to a
professional. The support that these women provide one another on the Internet around
Journal of International Women’s Studies Vol 4 #2 April 2003 38
this issue is something quite new.xiii
Women can access less intimidating support before
they are ready to take the step of seeking face-to-face support.
One of the assumptions evident in the hostile critiques of these websites is that the
young women’s “deviant” behavior is going on because they are not under the
supervision of “legitimate” authorities. However, it is widely known by professionals
and those suffering with eating disorders that tips and tricks are widely available through
autobiographies, textbooks, health care practitioners, and the media, and that competition
and tips flourish in endorsed treatment settings. The following extract is from an
interview between a researcher and a pro-ana website owner:
Q: Many of your sites have links to pro-recovery websites…Do you find that
even pro-recovery websites can be triggering, or helpful in maintaining your
disorder?
A: Yes…as a matter of fact, the first site i went to was [URL removed]. by
far that is the most triggering site i’ve been to, its made by an EX-anorexic.
and it’s a RECOVERY site. i learned more from that site than any PRO site
could offer. (Anonymous; emphasis in original)
Another major paradox with eating disorders is that, in order to access treatment, women
have to be clinically diagnosed by a physician and often have to meet rigid criteria for
diagnosis and admittance. In other words, if their health is not seriously compromised
and their weight is not low enough, they do not qualify for treatment unless they can
afford private services. Many girls and women I have worked with were well aware of
this pattern, and many actually avoided seeking treatment for fear of rejection. Many
who are quite ill are turned away from services because doctors determine that their
condition is not immediately life-threatening. The success rate of treatment programs for
anorexia is very low – not solely the result of the failure of specific treatment techniques,
but largely because once anorexia reaches a critical and chronic stage it is much harder to
recover.
Studies of recovery from disordered eating have been conducted almost exclusively
within a medical model that seeks causes for, and evaluates treatment of, clinically
diagnosed eating disorders.xiv
The studies assume that there must be causes for eating
disorders and that their discovery will solve the problem of recovery. They also assume
that professional intervention is essential to the recovery process. However, many
recovered anorexics say the events, people, and processes outside therapy were generally
those most relevant to their recovery (Beresin et al.). What is almost completely absent
from the literature is a focus on positive outcome indicators, that is, the factors that are
most likely to assist recovery. The focus on the negative, that is, what might prevent
recovery is because positive outcome indicators tend to resist measurement. They are
most likely to come in narrative form, with all its complexities (Garret). Also absent in
almost every study are the patients’ own words. Clinical studies of anorexia and recovery
which have trusted patients’ ideas and given them voice have provided far richer
understandings.xv
One phenomenon common on these websites is a practice common in Narrative
Therapy – the externalization of the “eating disorder voice” (Epston et al.). Clients are
sometimes encouraged to separate the voice that encourages the destructive behavior of
the eating disorder from themselves, in order to gain some psychological distance and
recognize that the eating disorder does not define them. This is used on pro-anorexia
Journal of International Women’s Studies Vol 4 #2 April 2003 39
websites by naming ana, a friend and/or enemy that they all have in common and to
whom they feel ambivalent towards. It is often illustrated, as is sometimes the case in
narrative therapy, in the form of letter writing:
This is a letter I wrote to my Anorexia. I’ve never posted here before, and I
think this pretty much sums up my problems, my thoughts and feelings.
Please post a reply. I feel so alone and attacked. I need someone to
understand.
Dear Ana,
I feel trapped by you… Where is the love you promised? The acceptance?
When will I feel like I’m finally in control? Why is it that the more I control
what I eat and weigh, the more out of control I feel? As I peel away the layers
of fat, the old problems resurface…the depression, the loneliness, the cutting,
the insomnia. Why can’t I just be normal? Lose another pound, wear a
smaller size, feel a new bone…you are all I have left…now I’m addicted to
you. You are a mirage. A vision of something that doesn’t exist…You are my
only friend, my biggest enemy. I worship you, and you destroy me…
(S.C.a.R.E.D. Forum User, 2001-2002; emphasis in original)
The second narrative shows that this woman sees through the illusion of control that Ana
promises; the more she tries to control what she eats and weighs, the more out of control
she feels. Many of the narratives demonstrate that even though the women recognize that
they are not yet ready to recover, there is some ambivalence about recovery.
Since the original Sanctuary was wiped out I’ve kinda let things slide again…
I’m working on starting all over again…I’m going to avoid the ‘tips and
tricks’ angle because of the controversy and because there are enough sources
of this already on the internet…What I’d like to see this place become is a
kind of meeting ground. Those of us with EDs know what it’s like living
with them and we also know just how lonely keeping all of this inside us can
be. I’d like to see this become a place where we can meet each other, offer
support and a shoulder, joke around, etc… What I don’t want to see is a place
where you have to pretend, argue, justify behaviors, defend yourself. We do
enough of that in everyday life. (S.C.a.R.E.D. Forum User, 2001-2002)
What comes through these narratives most of all is the desire to find a space in which
they can meet, free from judgment, to support each other and break the isolation they
feel.
Unlike the mainstream interpretations of these women’s behavior as pathetic or
malicious, and as attempts to harm themselves and others, these narratives paint quite a
different picture. They illustrate these women’s struggles, emotional pain and searching
for acceptance and connection, as well as an ambivalence towards recovery. Some show
us that these women are very aware of their own situation, as well as looking out and
caring for others. There is also evidence of the tension between the desire to go public
with their stories (in this case via the media) in order to effect some change in societal
awareness, and the fear of how these stories may be distorted and misrepresented as
deviant. The contents of these websites and the women’s narratives illustrate the
contradictions and paradoxes inherent in their situation. The boundaries of the “safe
space” are constantly threatened.
Journal of International Women’s Studies Vol 4 #2 April 2003 40
Anorexic Nation has been shut down, yet I bet within seconds you could find
a site that tell you how to make a bomb, or has child pornography or about a
million other crimes. Yet, sites like “Anorexic Nation” are eliminated.
What's wrong with this picture? I like this site and hope it stays up, and to hell
with the people who don’t get it or won’t get it. (S.C.a.R.E.D. Forum User,
2001-2002)
Anorexia is certainly not to be taken lightly as its effects can be extremely harmful and
potentially fatal. However, considering the high failure rate for traditional biomedical
treatment methods and the paradoxes around access to treatment, perhaps it is time to
reexamine the approach we take as a society to these “disorders.”
Third Wave Feminist Bodies
Feminist theories of eating disorders that address women’s agency contribute
greatly to reconceptualizing the meaning of eating and body disturbances in women.
Elizabeth Grosz has called anorexia a protest against the social meaning of the female
body. Contrary to popular notions of anorexia as the result of slavish observance to
patriarchal feminine ideals, Grosz asserts that it is “precisely a renunciation of these
‘ideals’” (40). She even goes so far as to label feminine practices in certain contexts as
“modes of guerilla subversion of patriarchal codes, although the line between compliance
and subversion is always a fine one” (144). Feminists have also argued that the anorexic
ultimately harms herself; that these women are getting ill rather than getting organized
(Bordo; Ellmann). Certainly this is ultimately true, and anyone working in this field or
who has been affected by an eating disorder is only too well aware of the very real
dangers of eating disorders to body, mind and spirit. Yet anorexic behavior, though
contradictory, serves a greater purpose than simply self-abnegation or compliance to
hegemonic ideals.
Third wave feminism offers further insight because of the contradictory nature that
has come to define this wave of feminism. “Contradiction [is]…a fundamental,
definitional strategy, a necessary, lived, embodied strategy” (Heywood and Drake,
Introduction 8), as young women’s experiences today are “diverse, fragmented, and
embody a lived messiness” (ibid 2). Many women, in trying to make sense of this
messiness, have turned the focus inward, to the body, and have started from a place
where they hold a degree of power and control (Richards xxii). The narratives in third
wave collections, like the narratives on pro-anorexia websites, describe individual
women’s struggles with their identities as well as the contradictory nature of what each of
them finds empowering. As Edut states, “in a world that still tries to assume our
identities, we rebel with an outward expression of self…in all its messy complexity”
(xxi). Thus, although pro-anorexia website users do not (overtly) declare their motives to
be either feminist or political, their behavior can be read as strategic acts of agency.
Through this article I have demonstrated that there is much more depth and
meaning in women’s pro-anorexia narratives than may be obvious by listening to
dominant interpretations of their messages. Biomedical and psychiatric discourses can no
longer point the finger at individual psychopathology in the face of mounting evidence of
the broader historical, sociocultural and political connections with this increasingly global
cultural epidemic. If we look beyond the supposed individual pathology of such
“deviant” behavior, we can detect alternative discourses of resistance. We can also see
Journal of International Women’s Studies Vol 4 #2 April 2003 41
individual agency in these women’s attempts to reach out to one another and create safe,
nonjudgmental spaces. Though pro-ana sites do appear to visually reinforce hegemonic
norms by showing mainstream images of acceptable female beauty alongside images of
deviant bodies, their very presence in public spaces and their ability to resist and subvert
pressures to behave creates something of a parody of these impossible norms and
demonstrates their agency pose in spite of the backlash. The judgmental responses of
practitioners in the field of eating disorders separate the girls and women who do not
want help from those who are ready to seek help. These simply reinforce dominant
binaries of good/ compliant girl and bad/ resistant girl that have historically been used to
pathologize and silence women. These websites should be positioned within this new
wave of feminism, a feminism that ignores these binaries through positing a multiplicity
of voices and agencies.
i
Graduate Student, Department of Women's Studies and Gender Relations, University of British
Columbia, Canada. For comments contact Karen Dias or diaskaren@hotmail.com. I would like to
acknowledge Dr. Isabel Dyck for her ongoing support and guidance with this project.
ii
Because of the frequent shutting down of these websites, obtaining copyright for the images used
in this paper has been impossible. All of the images were obtained from websites that are no longer
accessible. Anyone who comes forward with copyright for any of the images used will be acknowledged.
iii
This new alternative public space is not available to everyone as access to technology and
necessary skills effectively replicate class divisions within virtual spaces, tending to reinforce existing
inequalities and propagating dominant ideologies. As well, the cost of access to the Internet contributes
towards class divisions as well as racial ones; the vast majority of the Internet’s users are white and middle
class. Moreover, the “real” identities of its users can never be fully known. In cyberspace it is possible to
represent yourself as a different age, race, or sexual orientation, providing users with unprecedented
possibilities for controlling the conditions of one’s own self-representations. Virtual reality encounters
provide an illusion of control over reality, nature, and, especially, over the unruly, gendered and racemarked,
essentially mortal body (Balsamo; Kolko et al.; Stone). For the purposes of this article, I assume
that the narratives collected are from girls and/or women struggling with eating disorders. I will use the
term “women” throughout the paper to include girls and women although I am mindful that I cannot know
the demographics of the women I am studying with any certainty.
iv
In fact, one pro-anorexia site is titled “The Anna Sanctuary,” suggesting a safe space where
women who are pro-anorexia can meet without the judgment they would receive in a “real” public space.
v
This is one of many ways that these new cultural texts may be read, and in doing so I have chosen
to focus on narratives taken from these sites that illustrate these alternative discourses.
vi
For the purposes of this paper I follow the Medical Research Council of Canada which outlines
specific instances in which informed consent is not required:
(1) For information collected indirectly from subjects from existing records in the public domain.
(Appendix 1)
(2) For research about “a living individual involved in the public arena…based exclusively on publicly
available information, documents, records, works, performances, archival materials or third-party
interviews.…Such research only requires ethics review if the subject is approached directly for
interviews or for access to private papers.” (Appendix 2, Article 1.1c)
(3) For research involving “observation of participants in…public meetings…since it can be expected that
the participants are seeking public visibility.” (Appendix 2, Article 2.3)
vii
It is difficult to know at any given time just how many of these websites exist; the Eating
Disorders Association estimates that the internet contains at least 400 pro-ana sites (Reaves).
viii
Some websites also refer to mia, which is short for bulimia, or coe, which is short for compulsive
overeating.
ix
Websites about eating disorders fall into three general categories:
(1) Medical: those that disseminate medical, psychiatric and psychological information about eating
disorder diagnosis and treatment, etc., or details about professional organizations.
Journal of International Women’s Studies Vol 4 #2 April 2003 42
(2) Support: individuals who are struggling with an eating disorder, in recovery, or have recovered or
organizations that provide information and/or support around eating disorders.
(3) Pro-ED: sites providing non-judgmental support for individuals currently engaged in eating disorders
and not in recovery.
Web-rings are clusters of websites that have information on similar topics. Through a web-ring you can
connect directly with other topically-related sites without going through a search engine.
x
(1) Refusal to maintain body weight at or above a minimally normal weight for age and height (e.g.
weight loss leading to maintenance of body weight less than 85% of that expected, or failure to make
expected weight gain during period of growth, leading to body weight less than 85% of that expected).
(2) Intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, even though underweight.
(3) Disturbance in the way in which one’s body weight or shape is experienced, undue influence
of body weight or shape on self-evaluation, or denial of the seriousness of the current low body weight.
(4) In postmenarchal females, amenorrhea, i.e. the absence of at least three consecutive menstrual cycles
xi
For more on this see Herman; hooks; Kearney-Cooke and Striegal-Moore; Lovejoy; Thompson;
Wooley).
xii
A set of therapeutic techniques increasingly used in the treatment of eating disorders is
“Motivational Enhancement Therapy,” which recognizes various stages of “readiness for change”
(Prochaska et al.). In the earliest stage - pre-contemplation - the anorexic is not yet ready to take steps
towards “recovery.” At this stage traditional treatment is not very effective. Many do not reach out for
support during this stage, suffering in secrecy and isolation.
xiii
There are a number of autobiographies and memoirs that describe the experience of anorexia and
other eating disorders (Apostolides; Hornbacher; Liu; MacLeod). While these texts provide insight into the
anorexic experience, they differ from the websites in a number of ways. Firstly, they are often written postrecovery.
Secondly, the women on these websites may not have access to connections or resources that
would enable them to get their story into the mainstream through endorsed and privileged means such as
publication. Thirdly, these stories are not welcomed or encouraged and are often choppy and disjointed
owing to the backlash these websites receive and the subsequent shutting down.
xiv
Recovery studies on eating disorders are accounts of long-term follow-up studies of patients
treated for anorexia nervosa. The earliest example was written by in 1954 and the latest review article
counted 30 such studies since then. Follow-up studies of bulimia nervosa have only recently begun to
appear in the literature (Herzog et al.).
xv
For more on this see Beresin et al.; Bruch; Chernin.
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