Blog #3

1. I firmly believe that pro-ana (anorexia) and pro-mia (bulimia) websites and blogs should be shut down. Those girls and boys that are visiting the websites are slowly but surely killing themselves. Eating disorders are serious things and should be treated medically. They can not be cured by talking to other people with eating disorders, that can only fuel and influence more of the same bad choices. According to "A Secret Society of the Starving" by Mim Udovitch, a pop culture critic, "About one in 200 American woman suffers from anorexia; two or three in 100 suffer from bulimia,", which is a staggering statistic. The eating disorder could just be masking a larger issue that needs to be helped. If a person was happy with their body and the way they looked, they would not be throwing up or choosing not to eat, they would be an everyday normal person who could eat whatever, whenever, and keep it down. The people need real help, not websites and blogs.

2. The websites and blogs about pro-ana (anorexia) and pro-mia (bulimia) should not be shut down. The people who are on these sites need help and talking who others going through the same issues can help. Many of them have had an eating disorder for many years now, and to try to stop will be more painful then the disorder, and could actually hurt them more. There are steps that can taken to help these people with eating disorders, but cutting them off from the people who are going through the same thing is wrong.

3. The websites and blogs about pro-ana (anorexia) and pro-mia (bulimia) should not be shut down, but they should some how be monitored by health professionals. The people who use these sites talk to others like them who are going through the same things, that connection can really help them. They can not just quit "cold turkey", it has to be phased out over time with slow and steady steps. Eating disorders are serious and need to be treated medically by those that know how and what they are doing. The websites help with eating disorders, because none who use them are drastic enough to really hurt themselves when they have someone counting on them and they have someone they can count on. This bond grows over time and they can help each other through bad times. The websites and blog should stay open, but monitored.