ProCon Ana?

ProCon Ana?
I am appalled that a website like Pro-ana would even be allowed in the US and was dumbfounded by its rapid popularity. Allowing a website that enables oneself to express desperate emotions and thoughts like “the thinner, the winner”, and “you can never be too rich or too thin” will promote whatever “secret” or message they are trying to conceal. When I read that this website also “invites people who aspire to having eating disorders” to come and express how they feel, I was in utter shock. This website is the antithesis of what kind of message we want our children to perceive. We want our children to feel beautiful in their own shoes, not constantly yearn to mimic the bogus images they see on TV. We want a community who is willing to seek help for their disorders, not flaunt their naiveness and possibly encouraging others to be and do the same.When I think about the courage Claire had, to be the brains behind such a website, a website that enables bulimic and anorexic persons to vent, I couldn’t help but to sympathize with her. She must have really hit her breaking point trying to cope with her disorders before she made “pro-ana”. Clair knew she wasn’t alone. That’s why the website recruited nearly a thousand members within the two-week sign up period. With usernames like “Wannabeboney”, “Neverthinenuf”, and “afraidtolookinthemirrow”, it was obvious that all of the members of the site have one thing in common; they are all discontent with their image and turn to anorexia, bulimia, or both as a remedy. These “disturbed” people have nobody to turn to. They don’t want to go to the doctor because doctors won’t advocate it, and their friends and families “just don’t understand”. Pro-ana is the only source of comfort these helpless people have to turn to where nobody can judge them and, if they want, they can withhold their true identity. Claire clearly states that “this is a website, a place where people who have only their eating disorders can congregate, along with the people who aspire to having eating disorder”. If these people are so diligently unwilling to get help, why would we take away their only savior? Although I have great compassion for the members of the Pro-Ana website, I do think they should seek help, or at least accept it when given the opportunity. Understanding the fact that these people have nobody to turn to, they should be allowed to vent on the website as long as they try to recover. I do not by any means think Pro-ana should be allowed if all the members do is talk about their distress and leave it at that. If someone wants to tell their story it must have a beneficial ending in effort to benefit readers. For example, you can talk about how you are/were discontent with your image and resorted to anorexia/bulimia, but gradually you got help and you are recovering. Also, the website should provide immediate and legitimate contact information for people seeking help. This way anyone who is on the verge of becoming anorexic or bulimic will be inspired to get better and live a healthy life.