We deserve freedom of speech and expression too!

"if your friend wouldn’t be pleased about her picture being published elsewhere other than her “not pro ana” site then she shouldn’t have put it up on the internet to begin with"

It is a non pro ana site. The sad thing is that the creator of the FACES OF PRO ANA blog has picked a private eating disorders forum (registration has been closed for around 3 months right now) so we have no way to prove to you what goes on behind CB's closed walls.

When you publish your pictures on the internet you do run the risk of them showing up somewhere else, however, imagine if you put your picture of facebook and it showed up somewhere with a completed misfounded and incorrect claim. Would you not be feeling defensive?

From the debate that has been underway on MamaV it is clearly obviously that the person behind this blog has created it purely for the purpose of creating mass hysteria and duress amongst a community of emotionally vunerable young people. There is no intent to educate and protect the community here. When you believe it is acceptable to use suicide attempts and rape as ammunitition to personally attack people does that not show a lack of integrity.

DARKNESS QUOTES:
"Has the suicide hotline hung up on anyone lately??? It happens all the time to attention whores, who need to stop grazing like a cow, to think of all the children in africa starving because of you Sally Struters be dammed!!!"

Does this sound like the opinion of a person whose intent is to create awareness and educate people on the dangers of Pro Ana..

We have been insulted, been silenced, been refused the right of reply.. If the blogger who created this who incident is entitled to wrongly accused wonderful people of being something they are no, then are we not entitley to our freedom of speech?

We have been told to take the "battle" back to CB, but if you bring something to a public platfrom, you need to be prepared to fight your battle there.. The fight does not lie within the walls of the CB community it lies within those who are seeking to destroy a wonderful community thats only purpose is create a sanctuary of support and understand for people who suffer from a serious mental illness.

The reason for CB’s existence is not to promote ED’s but to provide support for those who are suffering from ED’s without fear of discrimination and judgement. It is a place for us to go, when the rest of the world is not prepared to listen. Just because one suffers from an ED and is a member of a related support group, does not mean they are promoting the illness. Would you not agree that we are entitled to some support, that we are entitled to have some one to talk to, some one to listen. For those who do not have a mental illness, do you understand how hard it is to confront a society that does not really understand the nature of ED’s and raise your hand and declare you need help? From this blog, can you understand the stigma and judgement we are faced with everyday, that instills a fear of rejection or being humiliated because we do not appear to fit the profile of having an ED? Are you aware of the costs of mental health care, and the lack of funding to help those who are seriously ill and need of help?There are so many obstacles and walls put up that prevent us from seeking help, is it wrong of us to create a sanctuary for those who are suffering to come together?

Most of the people posted on this blog do not in fact suffer from Anorexia Nervosa. All do suffer from an Eating Disorder, but the scope of ED's goes well beyond what they have posted. Some of these girls suffer from Bulimia others from EDNOS (Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified), sufferers of these strains of ED's are often of normal or over weight. If this site said that we were the faces of Eating Disorders then maybe we would not be so hurt. But to outright claim that we are responsible for the pro anorexia movement is a down right lie and offensive. People who have an ED understand the pain and suffering it brings, they understand that it destroys lives. we wouldn't wish it on our worst enemy, why would we want to promote and encourage it in the world?

FACES OF PRO ANA HAS BLOGGED:

"We instead posted the ones which made points and generated some conversation, like this one"

"Not a single girl on there looks even slightly anorexic.Next time you are trying to make 'Welcome to Faces of Pro-ana' site, you should probably get some realistic photos, as opposed to a bunch of fatties.Good luck next time!"

How does this a constructive comment? It is personally offensive and down right insulting. This just reinforces the belief that you have to be emaciated to have an ED, that is it normal to binge / purge / starve yourself unless you are emaciated. How is this educating society on the reality of ED's? its comments like this that highlight and cement the accepted social norm that unless you are emaciated you are not sick. It is stigmas such as these that lead Eating disorder individuals to deny them selves help until it is too late, it is these beliefs that lead us to believe that we are not sick enough to warrant health. We know that we are sick, we are award that we are engaging in self destructive behaviours, but these go beyond just simply being behaviours, they become the coping mechanisms we create protect ourselves from the real problem at heart. The behaviours are not the problem its self, they are the result of a much deeper, serious problem. It is because of this stigma, that support boards such as CB exist. Not to encourage, not to promote, not to teach, but to provide support and someone to listen when the rest of the world is doesn't and is not prepared to learn the reality of what an ED really is...