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From Pro-Ana to Bikini Bridge: The Online Discourse of Eating Disorders

Raulli, Stephen John
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu151318209255753

Abstract Details

2018, Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, English (Rhetoric and Writing) PhD.
The pro-ana online movement is a fairly recent trend on the Internet, defined as a forum for people with eating disorders to reclaim the illness as a lifestyle choice. While boys and men suffer from eating disorders, the users of pro-anorexia blogs are primarily young teenage girls.The pro-anorexia movement is a backlash to the self-silencing girls face during puberty, and it is an opportunity to take back control of their bodies. It thrived until the introduction of social media, which limited the discussion happening on the boards, and heavily emphasized visuals, known as “thinspo.” Thinspo does not encourage the open dialogue and keeps women as the object, whereas pro-ana places her firmly as the subject. This dissertation makes the defense that, unlike the thinspo trend, pro-ana boards provide a means of support to the suffering; this defense will be done through analysis of the world’s largest pro-ana online group and through interviews with some of its participants. Arguing how the pro-ana communities constitute a heterotopia, a concept originally theorized by Foucault, I will situate the girls of pro-ana as technofeminists, as they discuss their lived bodily experiences with a technological platform at their fingertips.
Kristine Blair, Dr (Committee Co-Chair)
Lee Nickoson, Dr (Committee Co-Chair)
Sue Carter-Wood, Dr (Committee Member)
Arthur Samel, Dr (Committee Member)
170 p.
Rhetoric; Web Studies; Womens Studies
Pro-Ana; Thinspo; Thigh gap; Bikini Bridge; Eating Disorder; Online rhetoric; Communities

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Raulli, S. J. (2018). From Pro-Ana to Bikini Bridge: The Online Discourse of Eating Disorders [Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu151318209255753

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Raulli, Stephen. From Pro-Ana to Bikini Bridge: The Online Discourse of Eating Disorders. 2018. Bowling Green State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu151318209255753.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Raulli, Stephen. "From Pro-Ana to Bikini Bridge: The Online Discourse of Eating Disorders." Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu151318209255753

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.