One day surfing the web I came across a very disturbing website with hundreds of members who, to my surprise were embracing anorexia and bulimia as a lifestyle; well, a majority of them anyway. And as I delved deeper into the sites pages, from the warning message on the first page, to the forums, and the thinspiration pictures, I found two sides of the story, and a community of friends. I realize it may sound ridiculous to describe a site such as this as a place of bonding, but the support was tremendous, and despite what articles you may be able to find concerning these sites might tell you, the people do not always promote anorexia and bulimia. Actually, very rarely do they promote it and most sites include a rule in regards to this.
Then again, two sides of a story presents a problem: which side is right? The people who have never suffered from an eating disorder, and do not take the time to know the people behind the computer, or the people who are suffering from a dangerous illness that affects their perception? It's hard to say. On one side of the spectrum, the critics of these sites are absolutely right, these pro anorexia/bulimia forums are terrifying and very disturbing, but on the other side of the matter, the sites should be kept on the internet and the members are correct, because where else could they find so much care and support for not only the illness they are coping with, but also the long road to recovery that lies ahead of them? A psychiatrist? I don't think so.
Like most controversial issues, the answer may never be clear. Through research on the matter, I know popular search engines such as Yahoo! hosts a huge amount of these forums, and though they have attempted to rid them of the internet, they always come back with a vengeance. These forums, a majority of the time, are run by young women around the ages of 18-23, and this is generally my generation. People have to consider that this generation, is much more fluent with the internet than those before them, and each year this is becoming more and more apparent. There really is no way to completely ban these sites, and maybe that's a good thing. The creators of these sites will always remake their sites, and each time they are banned, they'll only come back more hidden, making it harder to distinguish the genuine support sites from those that only do harm. It's sad that as a society, we have reached an out-of-sight out-of-mind mentality on this issue. All we can do is continue to educate and hope that the mental illnesses with the highest mortality rates, eating disorders, will be taken more seriously in years to come.
