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Essay about Pro-Anorexia Websites

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Pro-Anorexia Websites

Cyberspace, something that was once considered a fad, has developed into a tool that allows people struggling with anorexia to potentially find a sanctuary from the regulatory systems in popular culture that are applied to women’s bodies. Cyberspace provides an alternative space for women with eating disorders or body issues. The space created by cyberspace is potentially safer for women to meet because it allows anonymity while simultaneously being part of a community that the built environment is unable to provide. The components that make up pro-anorexia websites are usually considered abnormal, repugnant, or deviant within popular culture, because popular culture does not accept the way …show more content…

Before entering most pro-anorexia websites there is a warning page that alerts viewers that the website contains pro-anorexia information, to enter at your own risk, and to not enter if you are not an anorexic or are in recovery.

These warning pages make the purpose of pro-anorexia websites quite clear: to provide a space for those struggling with an eating disorder that is free of judgment, and where ideas of encouragement can be provided for those who are not ready to recover.

Upon accepting the terms of the warning page and navigating the website, a substantial portion of a pro-anorexia website is devoted to the definition of eating disorders, treatment options, and recovery issues. This information goes beyond removing the webmaster from any liability it has for a person who is interacting with this site, which has already been addressed in the warning page. Instead, the clinical definitions of eating disorders that are usually borrowed from medical texts emphasize the fact the website is an unstable space.

Anorexia Nervosa, a mental illness in which a person has an intense fear of gaining weight and a distorted perception of their weight and body shape. People with this illness believe themselves to be fat even when their weight is so low

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