L.A.J. WEEKLY
“You haven’t reached your goal until you are dead.” No, I did not find this statement on an adult necrophilia fetish or BDSM site in the erotic stories section.L.A.J. WEEKLY
“You haven’t reached your goal until you are dead.” No, I did not find this statement on an adult necrophilia fetish or BDSM site in the erotic stories section. This was taken off a readily- available personal mainstream site discussing the benefits and goals of being anorexic. The website is aimed at primarily young women and teens. Preaching this on the Internet in my opinion is akin to teaching someone how to commit suicide.
And yet strangely enough you never hear about how sites like those destroy families or can at the very least cause a substantial amount of harm both physically and emotionally…nope…it would seem like porn is the best scapegoat for that.
We all work in an industry that gets plenty of unwarranted blame, often from people unable to take responsibility for their own actions. We’ve all heard ad nauseum about “reformed porn addicts” who allegedly raped because of their “addiction” to porn, or at least excessive viewing of it was the catalyst to their compulsive behavior and self-induced harm. In the words of Connor Young over at The Adult Webmaster, “I don’t buy it.” Well, I don’t buy it either. Recently, Connor wrote an excellent follow-up article and counterargument to a doctor that wanted to convince our industry to take some action for the small number of porn addicts out there. He suggested we post reciprocal links on adult sites offering help to those that can’t help themselves. The doctor initially puts forth a decent and well constructed argument. In my opinion, however, his major flaw was to compare the adult online industry to the likes of the tobacco industry. To make such a comparison, we would essentially be admitting that what we have is potentially addictive and therefore harmful. Again, it would appear that our industry is being asked to take responsibility for an individual adult’s actions.
There is little I hate more than when the young, naïve and the weak are exploited or taken advantage of, regardless of the situation. These people often times are not able to take responsibility for their own actions. Particularly in minors with anorexia, exploitation can become a legal problem in addition to the existing psychiatric problem. It is a proven fact that anorexia and bulimia are diseases that can kill. Some disturbing facts that my wife provided for me about anorexia (she helped me research this article) are that in the USA alone, there are over 8 million people with anorexia, over seven million of them women. And of all of those that actively seek medical treatment, only about 20% will achieve a full recovery without ever having a relapse. Those are some pretty grim numbers.
I feel that websites that promote anorexia are dangerous, abuse the First Amendment, and deserve much more public scrutiny then they are getting. There are plenty of these so called “pro anorexia sites” available on the Internet and have the potential to do more damage than any adult site can, especially to the well-being and self-esteem of women. What makes this all the more disturbing is that the webmasters behind these sites know that what they are doing is wrong judging by the disclaimers.
In searching for some of these “pro anorexia” websites you really learn quickly that it is a pretty big underground culture. Anorexia is often referred to as “ana” or “anna” possibly to give the word a more pleasant connotation, or maybe to avoid being detected. There are numerous reassurances that it is okay to be doing what you are doing and rationalizations that anorexics are often misunderstood are common. In almost every instance, these websites contain lists of anorexia “triggers” as well as giving the reader tips on how to be anorexic and not get caught by your parents and friends. There are videos on how to vomit. There are tips on how to clear your computer of any history so that no one will discover your secret. There are tips on how to dress so that people won’t discover how skinny you are. There are diagrams pointing out that your calves should be skinnier than your thighs to be “successful”. The list goes on. A few months ago Salon.com broke the story entitled “The Winner Dies” giving an overview of these websites. Among the more appalling examples of existing “pro anna” sites include:
http://www.btinternet.com
www.bluedragonfly.org
home.talkcity.com
www.manifest-angel.com
http://communities.msn.ca/
This list is only an example of a much more extensive existing list. Some of these sites have mysteriously disappeared and reappeared in the last week.
Sometimes the adult industry with its abundance of beautiful and sometimes not-so-beautiful women is criticized for contributing to the low self-esteem of outsiders to our industry, accusing our industry of “objectifying women”. They mistakenly perpetuate the myth that “all men only want surgically enhanced porn stars.” . Again, I don’t buy it. Our industry doesn’t at all deserve even a shred of blame when it comes to the self-esteem of those who feel inferior when they look at adult stars. In no other industry is what you are and what you look like more acceptable than in ours, especially as of late. Several years ago there was a much smaller number of models out there doing adult video, with the vast majority of them being “classically gorgeous”. But since the onset of the Internet, more and more people are coming out of the woodwork to be models, and especially as of the last couple of years the amateur niche has exploded. Now a model can be the average looking housewife, or the couple next door, and with a little technical and marketing savvy, the model can be very successful in this business. In addition, with the number of fetish sites out there in both the straight and gay markets, most notably the BBW (Big Beautiful Women) and the Bears (Big hairy men) categories, now more than ever does our industry not discriminate against anyone because they aren’t “perfect”. It’s quite the contrary actually; simply put, we don’t judge like the mainstream does.
Of course self-esteem should come from within, regardless of outside influences, and everybody should be responsible for their own actions. But in the case of those most susceptible to lowered self-esteem and potential eating disorders, I think the blame should fall fairly and squarely on the types of outlets that are the most readily available, and that intentionally target these types of people: Namely television and magazines like Vogue, Vanity Fair, Glamour and Cosmopolitan to name just a few, for their overabundance of size 0 models, and no short supply of dieting tips. It’s time that those outlets start taking more responsibility in what they are promoting, because I believe that they are sending out the message that you need to look a certain way and to eat a certain way to be acceptable. Bombard someone enough with that message, and look at the results. I think it is fair to say that you can directly link the pro anorexia sites to all of this, and more attention should be paid to it.
LAJ is the Communications Director at YNOT Network, LP.
