Lauren Christiansen
Motivational Speech Outline
LA 101H
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V.
Everyone has those friends that they wish they would have kept in touch with.
a. Personal anecdote; regret not having sustained the strong friendship so that
I could have intervened when I noticed her sickness
b. I wondered how she knew how to be anorexic; everyone knows that
anorexia involves an extremely limited intake of food, but what college
student has the determination to do this while constantly lying to family
and friends about having already eaten, or fighting a stomach bug, or
being too tired to go out to eat?
Then I heard about “Pro-Ana” websites and blogs, where people with eating
disorders encourage each other to achieve BMIs lower than 17 when the
normal for a woman is 18 to 24. They give support to each other and compete
with each other to see how long they can go without eating (“fasting
competitions”).
a. They refer to “Ana” as their friend, providing a code name for the
thinspiration they give each other, through pictures, success stories, and
people to share struggles and determination with.
b. Most of the sites document daily eating habits, with affected people
consuming anywhere from between 0 to 400 calories a day on average.
The FDA considers anything below 800 calories starvation.
c. The sites provide “tips” on hiding purging, how to purge, how to act like
you’re eating your dinner and really you’re spitting it in your cup, how to
lie to family and friends about eating habits, how to find a new passion for
animals or for going green so as to reduce your food intake to low calorie
natural foods.
d. This way, people will see you as healthy and not disordered.
e. Wannarexics are not welcome on these sites. They only welcome those
who are pro-ana and who actively practice anorexia to achieve that
skewed image of thin perfection.
The South Carolina Department of Mental Health reports that eight million
Americans suffer from eating disorders. One in 200 American women suffers
from anorexia, and two-three in 100 American women suffer from bulimia.
Nearly HALF of all Americans know someone with an eating disorder. An
estimated ten to fifteen percent of people with anorexia and bulimia are males.
Eating disorders have the highest death rate of any mental illness.
Walden Behavioral Care claims that forty percent of female college students
suffer from an eating disorder, and that 91 percent of female college students
have attempted to control their weight through dieting.
The pro-ana bloggers themselves admit that these are not healthy behaviors,
but then why do they think that encouraging them is okay?
a. When people are dieting so harshly that they become anorexic and starve
their bodies, the last thing they need is “pro-ana” support and “thinspirational”
pictures and support networks. “
VI.
b. “Only Ana makes me happy. Only Ana makes me thin. Only Ana can
discover the beautiful person within.”
1. shows the skewed images these people have about themselves,
they are trying to achieve a certain perfection but at costs that
are far too dangerous
The list of blogs and sites I handed out to you contains pro-ana networks in
which people with eating disorders find “friends” to call them fat and
encourage them to keep on starving.
a. Realize that to these people, food is the enemy.
b. This last week of classes, we have nothing to do because none of us are
going to start studying for finals, let’s face it.
c. I know you’re clocking plenty of hours stalking people on facebook, but
take a break for 2 minutes, log on to one of these sites, and post a
comment or better, send the creator a message demanding that their site be
shut down because they are encouraging behavior that can ultimately take
someone’s life.
1. The creator will most likely agree with you that their encouraged
behaviors are unsafe, but they will refuse to shut down the site
because of the “Support network” aspect.
2. But without this support network, the number of anorexics and
bulimics would be severely reduced, because no one wants to fight
the battle alone. The more people we get to make an attempt at
shut down, the more likely it is that the creators will delete the
sites.
3. Added plus for us, many of the blogs are on blogger, so you don’t
even need to create an account! Please help stand up for the people
that will be more prone to these psychological disorders upon
discovering these pro-ana support networks!
4. The only kind of support these people need is recovery and
rehabilitation centers where they aren’t released until they are
healthy again.
5. There should be no “support” for starving yourself to be “thin” and
beautiful. This is a mental illness, and the more sense these people
have knocked into them , the more likely it is that we can combat it
together. If we reduce the support networks, we reduce the
numbers of sick people. Thank you.
Works Cited
"Eating Disorder Statistics." 2003 Retraining Grant Program. Web. 25 Apr. 2011.
<http://www.state.sc.us/dmh/anorexia/statistics.htm>.
"Eating Disorders Among College Students | Inpatient, Residential, Day & Evening
Eating Disorder Programs near Boston, MA for Anorexia, Bulimia and BingeEating." Eating Disorder Treatment and Psychiatric Care - Walden Behavioral
Care Waltham and Northampton, Massachusetts. Web. 25 Apr. 2011.
<http://www.waldenbehavioralcare.com/eating_disorders_among_college_student
s.asp>.
Empty Perfection~ A Pro-Ana Blog. Web. 25 Apr. 2011. <http://empty-perfection-proana.blogspot.com/?zx=ff72a31a384e2cab>.