When it comes to discussing the rise of eating disorders and body image problems, the typical argument is the blame game: Some target the media for promoting largely unattainable body types, some condemn women for mercilessly judging and criticizing each other, and some accuse men for having unrealistic ideas about how women’s bodies should look.

These finger-pointing conversations obscure the purpose of discussing eating disorders in the first place—to prevent them from developing and help those who have them—and instead allow those who need help to fall through the cracks.

One of these rabbit holes spirals down into the online world of “thinspiration,” which is a community consisting primarily of young girls that promote extreme and potentially deadly methods of weight loss. Thinspiration and its derivatives, pro-ana (pro-anorexia) and pro-mia (pro-bulimia), exist on social media sites like Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter, but also have entire websites dedicated to the cause. These sites use pictures of emaciated girls with “inspirational” quotes atop the images as encouragement.

“Must not eat. Must not eat. Must not eat.”

“Not skinny enough.”

“Skip dinner, end up thinner.”

These are some of the tamer messages presented on thinspiration forums. The posters take pride in the amount of hours they’ve gone without eating and congratulate each other for having eaten, for example, only 500 calories in a day. The community also glorifies protruding collarbones, visible ribcages, jutting hip bones and the “thigh gap,” a visible space between the inner thighs when one is standing with their feet together that recently has gained popularity.

Why would communities like this exist? For those who don’t have an eating disorder or have never had one, the idea of voluntarily engaging in self-destructive behavior and encouraging others to do so seems absurd and unjustifiable. However, those who do have eating disorders and do not want help perceive the thinspiration community as a “safe haven” where others like them feel free to be who they are without being judged or persecuted. The distinction, “those with eating disorders who do not want help,” must be made because these pro-eating disorder (pro-ED) communities are intended solely for people who currently have eating disorders and want motivation to continue living that way.

“Pro-ana sites are for those who are already anorexics, who want to be ‘triggered’ and are looking for advice, tips and support from fellow anorexics to help them become ‘better’ anorexics,” according to the article “Totally in Control,” from the Social Issues Research Center.

This mentality of choice further increases the dangers of the pro-ana communities. Rather than perceiving eating disorders as illnesses, pro-ana websites and social media pages celebrate them as a lifestyle for the strong-willed.

In response to the growing popularity of these communities, some social media sites have chosen to prevent and block users from posting content that promotes self-destructive behavior. In February of 2012, Tumblr announced a new policy stating they would remove pro-self-harm blogs and prevent the content featured on them from being posted. They also created public service announcements that pop up after searches of self-harm tags such as “pro-ana” and “pro-mia.”

The public service announcement reads, “Eating disorders are not lifestyle choices, they are mental disorders that when left untreated, can cause serious health problems, and at their most severe can even be life-threatening. For treatment referrals, information and support, please contact the National Eating Disorders Association’s Helpline at 1-800-931-2237 or www.nationaleatingdisorders.org.”

Soon after, Pinterest announced its own policy regulating the posting of self-harm content, and Twitter is currently under pressure to regulate similar content.

Despite these measures, online thinspiration communities, both on Tumblr and Pinterest, continue to thrive. A straightforward “thinspo tumblr” or “pro-ana tumblr” search on Google will generate plenty of content that violates the policies of those social media sites. However, the relative lack of success at hindering self-harmful posts should not prevent the continued regulation of self-destructive user content.

While it may seem futile to block pro-ana content on the Internet, greater harm would come if such content were not regulated. Critics argue that blocking pro-eating disorder content will only allow the community to move from one place to another. However, trying to control their proliferation will provide at least some impediment against the websites’ survival and growth.

Additionally, if more and more people increasingly put pressure on social media sites and site host companies to regulate such content, greater awareness can be raised about the existence of the thinspiration community. In turn, healthy conversations about eating disorders can emerge between doctors, families, friends and society in general.

Today we hear about the rise of eating disorders and learn about them in passing in health class, but we don’t encourage open discussions about the topic. The subject of eating disorders is still very much a taboo, murky topic, and as a result, those who have it feel stigmatized and turn to the dark corners of the online thinspiration community for a sense of belonging. Breaking down these dangerous communities and promoting healthy lifestyles instead would be a step toward healing our society’s tortured relationship with food and body image.

Maral Margossian is a Collegian columnist and can be reached at [email protected].