DEVIANCE - HOUSE OF THIN

http://www.houseofthin.com/entrance/mission.php

The above website is entitled, “House of Thin”. This site is devoted to being pro-bulimic and pro-anorectic. It supports women who have eating disorder such as bulimia and anorexia and tries to form a close knit support community for the women and men with such eating disorders. The purpose of the site is to have a place where people with eating disorders can come and be themselves and not be judged. The mission statement on the page quotes, “Pro-Ana works by allowing the individual to proceed at their own pace in a loving, caring environment in order to gain and/or regain self-acceptance and not to be ashamed of who and what they are. It's truly one of the most accepting close knit communities of any on the net.” They continue by saying that they are not a cult and do not encourage eating disorders or deadly eating behaviors, it is just a place where people can be themselves.

This site actually has a lot of useful material even if an individual does not have an eating disorder. It provided many forums, and education library that describes the many disorders and statistics, and a section to calculate your BMI & BMR as well as height and weight charts so that a person can know their healthy weight. They also have links to other pro-ana websites and news links dealing with these disorders as well as ways that people can improve or relieve their “eating disorders”.

As far as the question of whether this activity should be considered deviant, I do believe that it should be labeled as deviant. Not simply because the majority of society does not conform to these types of weight loss strategies, but because it is very dangerous to the individuals that pursue these lifestyles. Yes, there are many activities that are labeled dangerous but not deviant, but purging and not eating is not healthy for your entire body. Your body runs off of what you feed it and was meant to eat. It is up to an individual to maintain a healthy lifestyle and this is not one of them. Of course some people fall into this lifestyle and find it hard to get out of, but there is help. The fact that there are websites out there that promote the behavior and gives you techniques to slowly kill yourself is outrageous. People pick up this disorder trying to fit in society physically on the outside but do not always see how it can affect them inside. I do think that bulimia and anorexia should be labeled deviant simply because it is so dangerous. Although everyone has different opinions on what they actually consider deviant there is a clear and present danger that looms over eating disorders along with many other disorders.

You can see a video link to a news story about three girls facing the struggle of eating disorders and why they chose to conform to them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDY1pws-kOE&feature=player_embedded#!