Hedda Cooper

Date of Award

2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Dean, Erin

Area of Concentration

Anthropology

Abstract

The goal of this project is to explore why people join and participate in a pro-eating disorder forum on the Internet, myproana.com. The analysis considers both insider perceptions of the site and how the website relates to the situation of having and eating disorder in cultural context. Existing research on pro-eating disorder Internet forums has often taken an unnecessarily condemnatory stance towards the already stigmatized group. Historical analysis of shifting interpretations of eating disorders throughout time provides background to contemporary research. Analysis of this research informed the construction of an ethnographic observation of myproana.com. Observation resulted in the conclusions that users of myproana approach the site with various motivations, but are brought together through site interactions that center on support for each other’s success, and honest sharing of personal experience. Though the users of the site find support from the myproana community, their resistance to treatment can be seen as a transformation of harmful behaviors to tools of false empowerment. This creates a form of resistance that provides a feeling of agency while affirming ultimately harmful behaviors.

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