Why Ana Blogs Are Harmful
It took me a long time to realize this, and yes, I used to have a thinspo blog. (It got terminated about a month ago, and itâs probably the best thing that ever happened to me.) When I was part of the problem, I couldnât see that it was a problem at allâbut I see it now.
Eating disorder blogs are harmful. No matter what. And even if you donât think youâre promoting unhealthy behaviors, your blog is glamorizing your self destruction; making it seem like an appealing option.
âBut Iâm not pro-eating disorder! This is just for my own motivation!â
If it was just for you, why can you just save pictures to your phone? Why canât you just look at thinspo on the Internet? Do you know why? Because as much as you think itâs just for you, itâs not. You get that happy rush when your posts get notes, when you gain followers. You feel proud when you update your weight in your bio. You want people to see it. Eating disorders are competitive illnesses, and you want to make sure everyone knows how youâre doing in that twisted competition.
âBut I donât post tips, just thinspo!â
Thinspo by itself is harmful enough. And when you pair it with captions about how you wish you looked like that, how fat you are or how guilty you feel for eating, you are sending a strong message: skinny is good; starving is good. Once you put that message in someoneâs mind, itâs not hard for them to figure out how to starve themselves. You might not be posting tips, but they can find them.
âBut theyâd just get an eating disorder anyway!â
Maybe they would. Maybe they wouldnât. Maybe if my fourteen year old self hadnât stumbled upon some pro-ana blogs on tumblr, she wouldnât have thought to channel her negative feelings into hating her body. Maybe she wouldnât be tracking her calories or crying over pizza and muffins three years later.
âBut I have a trigger warning!â
Do you really think that keeps everyone away? Sometimes people want to be triggered, because theyâre in the same boat as you. Your blog is triggering you, and the sooner you learn that, the better.
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