One important aspect of the pro-ana phenomenon was the ability to share the experiences of the survivors and those struggling with both anorexia and bulimia. This sharing of experience translates into the "Sense of Community" reading, when McMillan revamped his arguments in 1996 to include the Sense of Belonging aspect as well as Emotional Safety. Other than these two defined community aspects of pro-ana, I would emphasize the emotional support aspect of these online connections. There is some sort of freedom of expression present, in both positive and negative ways. Positively, some could be celebrating some type of success in real recovery. Alternately, there could be others that are still celebrating their "successes" in losing weight as an anorexic individual. In addition, there is contrast with the other communities such as the Suicide subreddit, where there were health care providers and individuals not effected that could mediate the community in order to promote healthy eating habits or mental recovery form this illness.
Backlash to these online "communities" has come in many forms. Tumblr has banned certain blogs with this content or that otherwise promote anorexia as a way of life. Also, in France individuals that post pro-anorexia content on the web face jail time as a punishment. Tumblr has also used altercasting as a form of promoting health to its users searching for pro-ana content. Altercasting, as explained and defined by Lili, is the practise of projecting ideas of what someone else is through ones own behaviors toward them. Tumblr is thus stereotyping users that search for these pro-ana posts in pro-ana tags as anorexics themselves, and are treating them as if they need to be taken care of or otherwise coddled into recovery.
This "community", if we can call it such, also combats the marginalization of the members of the group. Discounting the value of sharing experiences with one another in an online setting in order to possibly recover in the future could not be the answer that these girls that search for a pro-ana community need. These groups of online anorexics probably wouldn't exist without the Internet, because individuals that are suffering and struggling with this illness aren't connected in person with others sharing their struggle. These pro-ana blogs and other resources for those that are affected by anorexia allow for a type of connection to others that understand and can relate with the experiences of others.
Often, mental illnesses that are associated with eating disorders are stigmatized in society, and the stigmatization can only be seen further when regarding those with other mental illnesses like bipolar disorder and depression. Anorexia is largely regarded as an issue of feminism and of the body image issues that society has placed upon the "normalized" female body: tall and extremely slender. These issues in particular in relation to anorexia and the ideals of obtaining a thin body through the absence of food disproportionately effect women.
Tags in particular are taken over by anti-pro-ana individuals in the fight of further demonizing pro-ana groups. These anti-pro-ana individuals argue that the presence of pro-ana pages and other types of gatherings of anorexic individuals to share their experiences are only triggering others into relapse when they are trying to recover from this illness. This also a very complex issue. Who are non anorexic individuals to say that these "communities" online aren't helping some to recover from their anorexia? This also brings up issues of the pro-ana community and personal identity: anorexia within these groups is seen as a lifestyle or otherwise something about oneself that they have to live with. It is not simply boiled down to a disease.
There is a type of value in being free to talk about one's personal struggles without judgment. From Lili's explanations, these women don't want to be defined by their illness. They want instead to talk about experiences in a community where its not treated as a disease but as a part of daily life. In addition, these pages and communities are started by the members and not mental health professionals. This, in fact, points to a need for online spaces where recovering and struggling anorexics are able to express themselves in a safe and judgment free environment. I believe that the need for these communities is worth exploring in the future, as well as the continued track of the progress of individuals within these online spaces that we can possibly consider an online community.
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