PRO-ANA Firstly I would like to explain why I chose somehow different topic of my presentation. Because today, I won’t present to you any book or film but some social phenomenon. When I was trying to make decision, which book should I chose, I realized that all my favorite books are historical themes, and for those of you who are not interested in history there are just boring. Suddenly, few days ago I accidentally read article on the internet about interesting issue, of whose existence I didn’t know.

Now I would like to ask you a question, the answer is of course just for you, “Do you like your appearance? . Probably most of your answers was quite similar – “I like myself, BUT … I could be thinner, taller ore have smaller nose” and so on. I think this is normal, but try to imagine situation when you hate the way how you look and can’t stand your reflection in the mirror. Pro-ana or pro-anorexia is a movement which promotes anorexia in the internet on blogs, sites and forums. Of course not only, but mostly young girls are connected into this motion. They treat anorexia not as an disease but as a friend or goddess, which is called ana.

Sometimes they event pray to her for support in diet and finishing exercises. She tells them what to eat and mocks them when they don’t lose weight. Girls on those kind of forums and web pages gives themselves advices, exchanging experiences and supports when some of them for example have hunger attack or is placed in the hospital. They treat pro-ana as a live style and aspiration to perfection.

What is important its fact that you don’t have to be skinny to be pro-ana, you can be only lonely and lost and find the way to take control in your live by diet.Thanks to this internet movement teenagers finds understanding and some sense of belonging. The hallmark in everyday life hire is a red bracelet. Teens identify with the pro-ana call themselves "porcelain butterflies" or "butterfly". The most important words for theme is quotation from Christopher Marlowe - what nourishes me destroys me. No one really knows how many people afflicted with eating disorders have been influenced by the pro-Ana movement.

But experts nowadays fear its reach is fairly wide.In some countries pro-ana internet activities are illegal, for example in United Kingdom or Spain. Also social networks like Facebook, MySpace or Yahoo introduced a policy against pro-ana groups and fan pages. In Poland this movement isn’t illegal and I think it began being quite popular. There is always written directly what is the destination of for example website and the information that nobody tries to convince someone to anorexia, but mostly there is no age limit. I found blog belonging to 14 years old girl, who decided to became pro-ana for the second time.

As a conclusion of my presentation I would like to share with you my thoughts. First, I think this issue is really interesting from sociological and psychological point of view, because many from pro-ana girls knows that their behavior leads to disease which will make them miserable, but still from some reasons they decides to go this way. And second thought is that human is a social being and without support, from his closest friends and family, he falls into pathologies. So I believe that sometimes we should be just more careful for other people.