Teen Vogue removes pseudo pro-ana forum

25th April 2008

Teen Vogue removes pseudo pro-ana forum

posted in Arts and Music, Eating Disorders |

In my case for pro-ana/mia sites, I mentioned the pseudo pro-ana boards over at Teen Vogue’s messageboard. The magazine, of course, is owned by media mogul Condé Nast.

The board carries the well-meaning title of “Fitness,” but as I, Jezebel and now Teen Vogue’s editors have realized, it’s devolved into a forum where girls post unhealthy weight-loss techniques and distribute many of the same kinds of advice also seen on self-proclaimed and unabashed pro-ana/mia sites.

According to the site’s notice:

Dear TeenVogue.com Fitness Forum users,

The TeenVogue.com fitness forum was launched to encourage discussion on healthy body image and to create a dialogue about health- and fitness-related issues. After seeing the alarming number of posts regarding eating disorders over the past few months, we have decided to remove the forum completely.

The Fitness Forum will be removed from the site on Monday, April 28. We encourage users to continue to post health- and fitness-related questions and comments in the Beauty Buzz forum.

For those who want to learn more about eating disorders, please visit the following links:

Eating Disorders Anonymous: www.eatingdisordersanonymous.org
National Eating Disorder Information Centre: www.nedic.ca
The Alliance for Eating Disorders Awareness: www.eatingdisorderinfo.org
The Body Positive: www.thebodypositive.org
The Renfrew Center Foundation: www.renfrew.org

I applaud Teen Vogue editors for recognizing and acting to protect the health and wellbeing of its members. Hopefully they will monitor all of their forums more closely in the future so as to nip this kind of behavior in the bud and to provide more constructive alternatives. But it isn’t enough simply to remove a forum dominated by eating disorder talk and not to replace it with a space for responsible and monitored discussions of the subject. Nor does the removal address and work to solve the root issues in why such talk emerged in the first place. As you can infer, board members have simply created a new and underground forum to discuss the same kinds of tips and behaviors that are now banned at Teen Vogue and are using the board’s private message feature to spread the link.

Sadly, people who want to learn such behaviors will continue to seek them out and will usually be fruitful in their searches. Banning this particular forum might not make a dent in eating disorders development, but it is important that media publications like Teen Vogue also not provide and sponsor a forum for such self-destructive talk. Send Teen Vogue a note letting them know you appreciate the move here.

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This entry was posted on Friday, April 25th, 2008 at 5:36 pm and is filed under Arts and Music, Eating Disorders. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

1 On April 27th, 2008, vicky smith

said:

I think it is all to easy for a healthy advice forum to turn unhealthy, without monitoring it only takes a few comments. Good on Teen Vogue for recognising this but agree without support in place other pro-ana boards will be sought out.

Maybe they will find somewhere like this blog.

Vicky XXX

posted on April 27th, 2008 at 8:19 am

2 On April 27th, 2008, Kyla

yay! now they need to do something about the images in their magazine…

posted on April 27th, 2008 at 11:38 pm

3 On April 28th, 2008, Fauve

It’s sad, how entrenched eds are, almost from the beginning of one starting. But, I wonder if these teens could see themselves at 40, 50, 60, 70+ *still* bending over toilets and/or restricting their food, (if they live that long, even), how they would feel? I’m reading Trisha Gura’s new book about eds in middle-aged people and older. It’s not pretty. Youth always thinks: it will never happen to me. However, EDs hang on and the older you get, the greater the toll to your body, mind, spirit and health. Maybe, to some degree, they Do realize this. But, I guess it’s too tempting, buying into the thin body myths of this world and also putting all one’s pain and negativity onto the size of their thighs or their waist/hip ratio. Really sad.

posted on April 28th, 2008 at 8:44 am

4 On April 28th, 2008, Rachel

Fauve - Agreed. I look at my life now and how full and rich it is, and I remember those dark eating disorder days when all I obsessed about was food, weight, and getting thinner. I missed out on so many things. I really do wonder about what those forces that continue to lead girls down the path of an eating disorder as opposed to more constructive obsessions.

posted on April 28th, 2008 at 9:25 am

5 On April 28th, 2008, vicky smith

I’m recovering from an eating disorder in my mid twenties, it has taken a lot from me and I refuse to go into my thirties with it. I feel very sad knowing the pain and hurt young girls developing ed’s will face, it makes me more determined to spread the awareness of ed’s and recover myself.

posted on April 28th, 2008 at 9:50 am

6 On April 28th, 2008, Allegra

I’ve looked at both proana/mia sites and this forum, and they are eerily similar. Young girls do not need to be exchanging tips on how to restrict your calories and limit foods that are considered “bad.” Also, reading through some of the posts on the forum, I must say that Vicky is correct in saying that it is very easy for a forum about fitness and health to turn into something more sinister. It seems like a good idea, but I’m afraid that we have to change social ideology and expectations before we can change people’s minds about body image and self-esteem, they go hand in hand.

posted on April 28th, 2008 at 4:51 pm

7 On May 1st, 2008, joe

every night I pray for these poor girls

Our father who eats in heaven
marshmallow be thy name
thy kingdom, yum, thy bacon’s done
cheese dogs from 7-11
give us seconds, keep us fed
and forgive those who diet against you
lead us not to Jenny Craig
and deliver us more calories
for thine is the breakfast, the lunch, the dinner, the snack
amen.

posted on May 1st, 2008 at 1:23 pm

8 On May 20th, 2008, anonymous

I am a member of teen vogue forums, and a member of the new forums.
I have disordered eating and body image issues, but i do not have an eating disorder.

Many of the girls on the forums do have eating disorders, but it is NOT a pro ana/mia board. We have become friends through the forums, and we offer support for recovery. Having someone who can relate to your own problems, feelings, and issues at school or at home really is supportive. Many of us don’t have anyone else to get support from.

I can say that the forum has helped me. Without it, I would probably be suffering from a full blown eating disorder.

posted on May 20th, 2008 at 12:20 am

9 On May 20th, 2008, ANONYMOUS2

I am, like above, also a member of the TV forums and of the new ones.

Some of us, including myself, do have eating disorders, but there are ALSO people who are average weight, and even overweight who are trying to lose weight the HEALTHY way.
We are not, in any way, pro ana. We provide a place for people to vent, to post their feelings, to try and recover and we give SUPPORT.
We are not perfect either. We do follow insanely crazy, unhealthy plans, which may or may not spark eating disorders in other people but, we are not to blame for another person’s choice, if you get what I mean.

As the person above,
if it weren’t for these forums, I would be wayyy worse: either fatter than I am now (and no, I am NOT underweight, I have a *healthy* BMI of 19.6) or really really nose deep in an eating disorder.

posted on May 20th, 2008 at 12:06 pm

10 On May 20th, 2008, Rachel

For the above anonymous posters: I read through the fitness forum at Teen Vogue before it went offline and I have to disagree with your Pollyannish version of accounts there. I recognize that you found support there, but I also recognize that talk of a lot of destructive behaviors was going on there, as well as a lot of irresponsible and harmful advice being disseminated. Teen Vogue shut the forum down because they did not want to assume liability should one of its members become harmed after reading and enacting some of what was discussed on the forum. If the forum merely represented a support group, I highly doubt TV would have taken the step to shut down the forum. As it is, I think you need to reevaluate and reassess exactly how constructive that forum is for you. Does it promote recovery or does it enable your disorder to continue?

Both of you mention that you find support on this forum. I think support is a wonderful thing and as a recovering anorectic/bulimic myself, I recognize that it is difficult to come by. But online forums can be deceptive; sure they provide support, but it is a virtual support. Instead of seeking solace online, I think we need to work to create the systems of support we need and deserve in our own real lives instead. Online support should be a supplement to recovery, not one’s sole source of support.

posted on May 20th, 2008 at 12:16 pm

11 On May 20th, 2008, Anonymous3

I am a member of both forums as well, as the others have said we are not pro ana, but pro recovery. I comlpetely agree with Rachel who says we shoukd seek help offline, but for some of us its not that simple.

Its not a matter of being in denial, we all recognize our problems and try to help, support, and encourage each other to begin a healthy lifestyle. Its not always easy for us to get help, many of us are judged a nd criticized by parents and relatives, or have family who also stuggles with disordered eating. Some are at a healthy weight and not always taken seriously as someone with an eating disorder. In my case my parents have not done anything, for me to go to a facility and be treated is out of the question because its (unfortunately) “Embarrassing” for my family, my mother is more in denial about my problem they I am, and my father has no clue.

This forum is all I have for support and without it I would be far worse-off.

posted on May 20th, 2008 at 2:30 pm

12 On May 20th, 2008, Rachel

I invite your comments here, but please do use something other than the moniker Anonymous. It makes it difficult to reply to someone in particular when everyone uses the name.

I completely disagree that the fitness forum at TV was pro-recovery. First, that kind of tone must be set by the site owner, which in this case, is TV. TV admittedly did not monitor the forum which is why it devolved into the free-for-all it did and in turn, is why they closed it. Posting tips like how to chew food and not swallow is not pro-recovery. Posting tips how to purge more effectively is not pro-recovery. Posting comments on what kinds of laxatives are better or promoting fasting is not pro-recovery. Posting comments promoting weight-loss and numbers of any kind is not pro-recovery. Posting photos for people to judge and critique is not pro-recovery.

And not only is this not pro-recovery, it was rude and insensitive to the other members at the site who looked to the fitness forum to read about, well, actual fitness topics - and especially for those members who have struggled with disordered eating in the past and who may have been inadvertently triggered by the unexpected takeover. If members there wanted a support forum for eating disorders, they should have petitioned TV to create one, not hijack an unrelated forum.

Like I said in my post, I think TV was wrong in simply removing the site without also providing a monitored forum promoting recovery. And I also recognize that the site encourages support for those who may not have that element of support in their real lives. But even those places which we feel are supportive can be destructive. If you have a forum full of girls and women encouraging you that jumping off a bridge is okay, that could technically be called support. But it isn’t healthy in the slightest.

Whatever new board you all have created, I hope the board owner creates some sort of established rules by which the community is governed to support REAL recovery and not just the deceptive appearance of recovery.

posted on May 20th, 2008 at 2:50 pm