Wannarexia
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Background
Wannarexia, or anorexic yearning,[1] is a label applied to someone who claims to have anorexia nervosa, or wishes they did.[2] These individuals are also called wannarexic[3] “wanna-be ana”[4] or "anorexic wannabe".[5] The neologism wannarexia is a portmanteau of the latter two terms. The condition is a cultural phenomenon, not a diagnosis.[6]
Some people fitting this description may also be diagnosed with eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS). Wannarexia is most common in teenage girls who want to be popular.[6] Wannarexia is likely caused by a combination of cultural and media influences.[3]
Author and Personal Performance Coach Susan Kano has written, "Most young women have "anorexic thoughts" and attitudes,[7] and there are no diagnostic criteria for wannarexia.[3] The distinction between anorexia and wannarexia is that anorexics aren't satisfied by their weight loss, while wannarexics are more likely to derive pleasure from weight loss.[3] Many people who actually suffer from the eating disorder anorexia are angry, offended, or frustrated about wannarexia.[3]
Although wannarexics may be inspired or motivated by the pro-anorexia, or pro-ana, community that promotes or supports anorexia as a lifestyle choice rather than an eating disorder,[8] they are not welcome in this subculture. Participants in pro-ana web forums only want to associate with "real anorexics" and will shun wannarexics who only diet occasionally, and are not dedicated to the lifestyle full-time. In this context, wannarexic is a pejorative term.[9]
Further reading
- Drummond, Katie (2007-08-08). "Wannarexia: When Death Becomes Trendy". Her Active Life. The Final Sprint, LLC. Retrieved 2007-08-25.
...but for many young women, anorexia has become a hot new trend, so common that medical experts have coined a new name, ‘wannarexia,’ to describe the dangerous fad.
- Forman-Brunell, Miriam (2001). Girlhood in America: an encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO. pp. p. 245. ISBN 1-57607-206-1.
With this widespread popularization of the illness, susceptible girls could be heard to say, not "I want to be thin" but "I want to be anorexic.
- Hardin, P.K. (2003). "Shape-shifting discourses of anorexia nervosa: reconstituting psychopathology". Nursing Inquiry. 10 (4): 209–217. doi:10.1046/j. Retrieved 2007-08-07.
...the focus of this article is on how discourses and institutional practices operate to position young women who take up the subject position of wanting to be diagnosed as anorexic.
- Rachael Oakes-Ash (2001). "So you want to be anorexic—join the queue". Good girls do swallow. Edinburgh: Mainstream. ISBN 1-84018-480-9.[5]
References
- ↑ Hardin, P.K. (2003). "Shape-shifting discourses of anorexia nervosa: reconstituting psychopathology". Nursing Inquiry. 10 (4): 209–217. doi:10.1046/j.1440-1800.2003.00189.x.
Anorexic yearning. Accounts of individuals stating that they want to become anorexic stirred the greatest energetic debate on the Internet boards.
- ↑ Tiemeyer, Matthew (2007-08-10). "Wannarexia?". About.com. Retrieved 2007-10-18.
...'wannarexia' refers to someone who wants to 'catch' anorexia in order to lose weight and, presumably, be more popular.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Bauman, Valerie (2007-08-04). "'Wannarexic' girls aspire to be anorexic, eating disordered". Newsday. Retrieved 2007-08-06.
Most commonly found among teenage girls, wannarexia is a label describing those who claim to have anorexia, or wish they did.
- ↑ Giles, D. (2006). "Constructing identities in cyberspace: The case of eating disorders". British Journal of Social Psychology. 45 (3): 463–477. Retrieved 2007-08-25.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Warin, M.J. (2006). "Reconfiguring Relatedness in Anorexia" (PDF). Anthropology & Medicine. 13 (1): 41–54. Retrieved 2007-08-07.
There were some who were called ‘anorexic wannabes’—these were the people who wanted to be anorexic, and actively pursued what they called ‘the coveted title'
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Bauman, Valerie (2007-08-06). "Bad fad: Wannarexia". Associated Press. AM New York. p. 24.
- ↑ Kano, Susan (1989). "Anorexic Thoughts and Attitudes". Making peace with food: freeing yourself from the diet/weight obsession. New York, NY: Perennial Library/Harper & Row Publishers. ISBN 0-06-096328-X.
Most young women have "anorexic thoughts" and attitudes
- ↑ Lyons, E.J. (2006). "Pro-anorexics and recovering anorexics differ in their linguistic Internet self-presentation". Journal of Psychosomatic Research. 60 (3): 253–256. Retrieved 2007-08-08.
Pro-anorexia has emerged as a new and emotionally charged eating disorder phenomenon...self-identified pro-anorexics...defend anorexia as a lifestyle...
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ignored (help) - ↑ Pascoe, C.J. "No Wannarexics Allowed: An Analysis of Online Eating Disorder Communities". Digital Youth Project. University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved 2007-08-06.
According to the posters on these sites a 'wannarexic' is someone who occasionally diets but who is not dedicated to an eating disordered lifestyle.