There are strong tendencies among pro-ana people to sub-classify themselves. For example, anorexics that refuse to accept that they are thin are called Anas. Anas will try their best to lose weight, even if they are already very unhealthily thin.

On the other hand, anorexics that believe what they are doing, which is basically starving themselves, to be a controlled exercise of their own choice. They are called Rexies. Rexies think themselves to be above Anas, simply because they have the element of control over their actions, which the Anas lack.

Pro-Ana Websites – Declining Popularity?

While the pro-ana sites mushroomed between 2001 and 2003, their numbers started dwindling after that period. During the year 2003, at the height of their popularity, there were hundreds of pro-ana websites across the Internet. In the year 2005, this number had dropped drastically.

The reason for this was mainly the outcry that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) hosting these sites faced from the public. Armed with scientific evidence proving anorexia to be a harmful disorder, and not just some new age way of life, the ISPs started removing these sites from the Internet. Yahoo! took one such major initiative in 2001, and removed quite a few of these pro-ana sites.

However, the reduction in numbers of these sites could mean either of two things – good and bad. The bad thing is that the reduction could be due not to these sites being removed, but because these sites are actually secretly reinventing themselves. The good thing is that the reduction could actually be because ISPs have systematically been deleting these sites from the Internet.