Pro-Ana.

These blogs have been the most difficult to read. It's difficult for me to understand how people could live such a lifestyle, but I keep trying to remind myself that I probably do things that Pro-Ana wouldn't understand.

Glancing back over the introduction of the Pro-Ana blogs in an earlier post, I have decided a great approach to them is the concept of the hyperreal.

The concept of the hyperreal is part of the post-modernism theory. Basically the hyperreal is the inability to separate what is reality and what isn't.

As I've kept up with these blogs I have noticed that many of them speak of "Ana" as though she is a real person. I suppose I'll never really know if the bloggers actually consider her a person [I emailed questions but never received a response.] but their writings certainly hint at that.

There was a Pro-Ana blog [I think it was called Pro-Ana: My Struggle] that posted conversations between Ana and herself. I wish I were able to locate the blog now, but many of the Pro-Ana bloggers will delete their accounts and set up news blogs with different web addresses so their family and friends won't find the blog.

The sense of community is present within the Pro-Ana blogs, but I have been surprised the more I have read. Most of the bloggers post their daily calorie intake and I have gotten the impression that other bloggers read those intakes and try to "beat" them by consuming less. Some of the blogs even host "friendly" competitions like the one over at Yummy Secrets.

The most interesting Pro-Ana blog I've read over the course of the semester is definitely The Looking Glass. She seems as though she is on the road to what I would consider to be recovery. I will continue to read her blog, simply because I've become somewhat attached to her narrative.