“Pro-ana” refers to people who are ‘pro’ to ‘anorexia.’ Nowadays, the number of individuals suffering from anorexia is increasing, and the pro-ana community is growing larger. 90% of the anorexia sufferers are women, and many of them are young girls.

It is easy to find online communities or group chats for pro-anas. They report their meals for a day and give feedback to each other. They share anorectic wordings to get momentum for keep eating nothing. They yearn for thin bodies and refuse to get treatment.

On “Naver” – a primary search engine in Korea – we have a tab where users can discuss questions and answers. It functions like a nationwide Q&A board. I searched ‘pro-ana’ on that page, and was shocked with postings. Let me share some of them.

Case 1. “A few days ago, I stumbled upon some writings about ‘pro-ana’ while cleaning my daughter’s room. It seemed to be about dieting, but something felt off. … My daughter already struggles with anemia and occasionally faints, and her menstrual cycle is irregular. It doesn’t seem right for her to be engaging in such dieting behaviors…”

A mother didn’t realize that her daughter was suffering from anorexia until she learned what pro-ana is. She is not the only parent who doesn’t notice their kids are getting sick if children hide by throwing up or spitting food out. Also, they have to deal with the fear of losing their kids all by themselves.

Case 2. “I have a friend in my class who goes to the bathroom and throws up every break time. Even during lunch, she takes her meal outside to the playground and throws it away. She said that she has been losing weight rapidly ever since she became a pro-ana. Does pro-ana help me lose weight?”

This young student doesn’t understand the danger of anorexia at all. This shows how poor the education system is in teaching students about eating disorders. Young students don’t know what a healthy body is and don’t even recognize that they are developing unhealthy attitudes towards body and diet.

Case 3. “I’ve lost 15lb in a month by alternating between fasting and binge eating. But I’m not happy. I want to lose weight through a healthy diet and stop taking laxatives and appetite suppressants. But I’m afraid of gaining weight again. I feel like dying would be better than gaining weight again. What should I do? But I don’t want to go to the hospital. They’ll just tell me to eat healthily and exercise, right?”

A writer realized that they were in a dangerous situation. They are afraid of sending themselves to their death but think it’s better to die rather than eat. There are so many people who can’t overcome the situation themselves because it is not just a matter of will.

PRODUCTION AND REPRODUCTION OF BODY IMAGES THROUGH MEDIA

How are all of these related to the media? I believe that the media has been working as the biggest trigger for producing and reproducing images of a ‘beautiful body.’ Young generations pursue having the same body as stars – models, actors, singers, etc. – without caring that everybody has a different shape. Numerous content compliments celebrities’ appearance leads young people to regard their(celebrities) bodies as the criteria for beauty. They copy the diet routine which stars do even if they don’t have to be that extreme. These kids don’t even notice they are ruining their bodies.

Tons of diet plans were popular online while I was in middle and high school, and they were absurd. We don’t even know if those are real diets that celebrities follow. I remember there was a famous meal plan involving an apple for breakfast, two sweet potatoes or bananas for lunch, and a protein shake with low-fat milk for dinner, which was said to be followed by one famous singer. I tried to copy that routine when I was a teenager and learned that I couldn’t. It might be helpful for 2-3 days as a detox ritual, but it can never last for the long term.

The influence doesn’t stop at the level of celebrities but spreads to the public, and I’d like to call it a reproduction through social media. People share tips on ‘how to lose 22lb in a month,’ ‘how to lose weight without exercising,’ etc. Others share their new body profiles on social media accounts after they undergo extreme diets. Body images in the media continue to reproduce their standards, making them increasingly difficult to achieve.

IT’S NOT ABOUT THE MEDIA?

Every generation, including Gen Z, is in a danger zone, while Generation Alpha is most vulnerable. Because they are less trained to accept information critically and are in the growth phase, their impractical attempts to lose weight can cause eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia. The rates of pro-ana are increasing rapidly due to the low degree of understanding of eating disorders. However, the brutal fact is that eating disorders are classified as mental illnesses in the medical world, and especially anorexia nervosa has the highest fatality rate among those.

Hadley Freeman, the author of “Good Girls: A Story and Study of Anorexia,” pointed out that the media is merely one of the triggers that make girls want to be thin to the bone. Freeman notes that there have been women who haven’t eaten for a thousand years. Therefore, we should focus on the fundamental causes leading girls to not eat according to her.

It makes a valid point, but we can’t ignore that the media has been the biggest trigger of all. There was a character who suffered from anorexia in a British TV series, “Skins,” named Cassie. The series depicted a teenage girl undergoing growing pains by learning how to pick herself up again. However, ironically, Cassie became a sort of idol for pro-anas by following her and being enthusiastic with her lines, such as, “I didn’t eat for three days so I could be lovely.” This is one case that shows the power and the tendency to easily fall into the side effects of the media.

The primary effort should be led by themselves and their surrounding people, while macro-level change is demanded, which is establishing a healthy cognition of body judgment. However, structural change requires enough time; therefore, we need an ‘emergency measure’ to prevent them from being pushed into a corner to death.

As we understand the significant power of the media, we can leverage that power to our advantage. Producing content that informs about the dangers of eating disorders and encourages girls to speak out about their illnesses will be the fastest way we can take action.

The Netflix film “To the Bone” is one of the major works that highlights the challenges faced by people suffering from eating disorders. The film conveys a message of courage while depicting based on the true story. It also received some critical comments suggesting that the film could instigate people by describing specific habits of anorexia. However, I believe that these trials and errors should persist to effectively convey the message to as many people as possible.

Kyungmin Min is an international intern from Korea.