9 Comments   
Take a look at the photo to the left, from the new "Thirty-Two Kilos" exhibit at the Goethe-Institut Washington, and tell us -- do you see a sad but striking critique of the fashion industry? A haunting message about the dangers of eating disorders? Or a beautiful girl who you'd like to look like?

The large number of girls who pick the third choice has the art and blogging communities buzzing.

Ivonne Thein's new exhibit features digitally manipulated photos of stick-like young women in mock fashion poses. She cites the pro-ana Internet movement as her inspiration, and says the exhibit is meant as a critique of the fashion industry and our weight-loss culture. To many, though, the photos are just another example of the glamorization and glorification of ultra-thin.

Click here to see what the pro-ana community thinks about the exhibit

Dangers of the exhibit
Plenty of bloggers say the images are too glossy to be seen as negative. "The edgy, couture nature of the photographs gives not the sense of aghast horror deserving of anorexia, but instead glamorizes the subjects and even thinness itself," says Rachel of The-F-Word.

"Each model sports luscious, flowing locks of hair of the kind you'd never see on someone with a serious eating disorder (symptoms of malnutrition include brittle hair and hair loss), and perfectly-toned, flawless skin (other symptoms of anorexia are dry and yellowish skin, abdominal edema, lanugo and easy bruising from anemia)," she says.

Body-image experts like Nancy Redd, author of Body Drama, agree. "I don't think Thein's message is clear or compelling, and unfortunately it's not hard to see how this could easily be misconstrued as an homage to the lifestyles of pro-anas, thus validating them and their dangerous movement," she says.

As Redd predicted, the pro-ana community is embracing the exhibit. An online commenter quoted by The Washington Post says, "Those pics are so, so beautiful! I want to look like them! They look so fragil [sic] and like an angel."

Another self-identified pro-ana told Lemondrop that Thein's exhibit is analogous to a "photographic dream come true." Do a quick YouTube or Google image search on "thinspo" (short for "thinspiration," pro-ana slang for images, words and other media that motivate them to avoid food and lose weight) ) and you'll quickly see the similarities with the exhibit.

Freedom of artistic expression
Museum director Dr. Heribert Uschtrin says that while he realizes the photos could be viewed in an unhealthy way, it's beyond the museum's control. "I would like to hope that their reactions lead to a deeper awareness and a broader discussion of the problem," he wrote in a letter to concerned blogger Kara of Sunday Confessional. "Since it is my strong belief that changes in individuals in our societies are best brought on by an open discussion of the problems, I think that Ms. Thein's artistic expression -- disturbing as it might be -- should not be suppressed. "

Courtney Martin, a strong proponent of healthy body image and author of "Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters," actually does believe that the exhibit, though provocative, is worthwhile. "We cannot become paralyzed by this fear," she says. "We have to keep making art and writing, and hoping that these efforts change the bigger system at play."

Thein, for her part, says she never intended to give the pro-ana movement any fodder. "That's not what I wanted," she says. "It's important for me that if I show my pictures, there's a statement that it's a critical position and I don't glamorize anorexia."

Tell us: What do you think about the exhibit? Is it art, pro-ana or an important social message?