Pro-ana is not some horrible brain-sucking cult that is trying to lure your delicate young daughter / neice / sister into a dark back room and sacrifice her to a skeletal god. We are not trying to hurt anyone.

Pro-ana is not trying to recruit or teach anyone how to be anorexic or bulimic. We can't teach someone how to hate herself.

Pro-ana is not a cause. We are a symptom.

Pro-ana is not a killer. Anorexia and bulimia are killers.

Pro-ana is a source of support and community for those who already have eating disorders. It keeps people from feeling utterly isolated and misunderstood. Without sites like this one, some people would have absolutely no one to talk to. The leading cause of death among people with eating disorders is suicide, not starvation. Maybe sites like this can pull someone back from that edge.

Pro-ana is supportive of recovery. Not everyone wants to recover, and forcing them to do so will only encourage more secretive (and potentially more dangerous) behaviour. But when someone does choose to recover, we wish them the best of luck in finding freedom from their ED.

Pro-ana is not about encouraging people to "stay sick" or "get sick." Like I said, we support recovery as much as we support the decision not to recover.

Pro-ana is (or at least should be) about showing both sides of the issue. Sites that only give tips and tricks are not being fully honest about the effects of eating disorders on the human mind, body, and life. An honest pro-ana site is nakedly truthful about the conflicting emotions, the apathy, the ambiguity of having and eating disorder.