Ana and Mia : Secret Society
 

Now this make me very mad :mad:


Secret Society

I don't think it's sick. I think it's about people with disorders looking for support without condemnation. People who have never had an eating disorder don't realize how lonely it is to try and hide it all of the time. This gives them some relief.

I am surprised that most people have no clue what Ana and Mia means, really.

I agree, if you look at the site, it's not a demonic cult of girls planning vomit circles around the country. These are people (men and women) with a serious problem and need people in their circle to give them support. It's just like any other disorder and while it's probably not a good thing to see these bracelets on a child, at least you know they are trying to deal with the problem.

This is nothing new. Maybe more extreme. Girls (and guys) have an entire system of bracelets and so forth that is a code for what they have done sexually and otherwise.

It wasn't around when I was in middle school, but it is now. Hell if I know the colors or anything, but it find it kind of funny and very sad.

I do not like what it promotes. I do not think it is just a support system. Something about it just rubs me the wrong way.


Blue Dragonfly

But they aren't really trying to deal with the problem. In their eyes they don't see that they have a problem. It's everyone else who has a problem with them. I agree with Smiley, what they are promoting and supporting is extremely unhealthy and can be fatal. It's not like they are trying to promote being thin and healthy, they are promiting thin at all costs...and the thinner you are the better. They really don't have any idea that what they are do can kill them.
They are not trying stop the eating disorder, they are trying to keep it going. I'm not sure you fully understand the serious health problems that come along with eating disorders.

How can encouraging someone to purge quietly be a means of support?

I'm not sure you fully understand eating disorders.

I've read a number of different eating disorder-related boards, and have run into a number of girls who are pro-anorexia. Almost all of them realize that they have a problem. (Why else would they be at a website about eating disorders?) They may not recognize the severity of their problems (although some do) -- but what it comes down to 99 percent of the time is that they realize they're screwed up but consider the positives of their disease (weight loss) to outweigh all the negatives. There are very few girls in today's society who don't understand that anorexia can bring long-term health concerns, shortened lifespans or even death. In many cases, girls are actively seeking out death (eating disorders and depression/self-mutilation go hand in hand).

While I believe that the bracelets have both a negative side (reinforcement of the disorder) and a positive side (support for the isolation that the disorder often creates) to them, the negative is kind of inconsequential. If the girl's already sucked into her disorder to the point where she's visiting pro-ana websites or buying bracelets, she's probably already pretty far in. Stuff like the bracelets and websites and whatever else -- it's all trappings. It's all tangential to the actual disease. You take away the bracelet, you take away her computer -- she's still going to have an eating disorder.

I understand all that, and I think the problem is they do too and don't care. They realize it is a disorder and it can kill them, read their posts. As far as keeping the disorder going, they are trying to support each other by connecting with the stories and feelings they share. While it's hard to understand, this is a good thing for them. I would rather a person be able to reach a group of people with the same disorder rather than shun them or keep them from talking to each other. These disorders are not easy to cure and you really can't force them to seek help.

for real. We were talking about it on here 4 years ago. So anyone who's against this, it's officially jumped the shark by being featured as a Yahoo story and will probably be over soon. I'm not trying to be flip, I seriously think that the more this is publicized in mainstream news sources, the less people will be drawn to it.

And I hope this is the final nail in the coffin of the whole bracelet-for-a-cause trend, while we're at it. I wouldn't be surprised if there are girls getting these bracelets who aren't the least bit eating disordered, because they saw some girl they look up to in school wearing one.

On a tangent, can someone please explain what Parents Local 4 is? It sounds like something out of George Orwell.

bad phrasing of sentence. let me rephrase for you: Parents whom Local 4 interviewed


On my own tangent: How the hell do these kids order it off the internet?
"Mom, can I order an anorexic bracelet off the internet?"
"OK hun, here's my credit card"

I get it now, LOL. Why don't they just say "WDIV" or "Channel 4"?

She has an address to mail cash/check/money order to directly. This sounds like one girl in her home. I doubt if she's dealing w/ credit cards.

that's what I thought when I read it it too... like, is this a union or something?

I checked out the site, but didn't stick around long enough.

Did the webmaster say where the proceeds of the bracelets were going to? Was she keeping the $$$ for herself and making money of off this?

All I can think of is how desperate their parents must be.

I know 2 sorority women who are anorexic--they had started to become anorexic before they went Greek but it wasn't noticeable when they were first-semester freshmen.

They're both members of the same GLO at different universities and they knew each other in high school. I'm pretty sure that neither knows the other is anorexic, or in the same sorority. On the one hand, I want to tell them so they could support each other; on the other hand, I'm afraid they might support each other in the wrong way. Like the Ana and Mia way.:(