(2021-11-18) Df The Pro-Anorexia Memory Hole

Default Friend: The pro-anorexia memory hole. ...whether there was any overlap between pro-anorexics and incels. You probably know my answer to the latter question already: yes. Anorexia touches everything on the Internet, both implicitly and explicitly.

I’m firm believer that a fundamental dissatisfaction with the body is an essential piece of any digital-first community. I think often of what Henry Jenkins said of what drives fans to remix their fan objects: it starts with not being satisfied with the original work. This holds true for everything, I think, including and especially our bodies.

One thing that crossed my mind during my conversation with Naama was that we seem to have forgotten the symbiotic relationship between pro-anorexia internet communities and the media (MSM) that existed between 1997 and maybe 2007, 2008. Give or take a few years on each end, but that’s my guess. More generously, we might say 1990 to 2010.

Many major celebrities had eating disorders or there was speculation about whether they did

talkshow specials and Lifetime movies about pro-anorexia proper or simply eating disorders were everywhere. There was almost always an anorexia subplot in teen movies

At the tail end of this period, I also noticed three things pop up: cutting was mainstreamed, teen suicide and depression became hot button issues, bisexuality became more anchored in middle and high school life as opposed to a quirky thing that college students got up to at parties, Gay-Straight Alliances started forming with more regularity, and the emo subculture exploded.

I want to be perfectly clear here: I am not trying to delegitimize being a homosexual or bisexual or the realities of mental illness. I am simply speaking here of public/media perception