Disney pulls down damaging "attraction"

The "Habit Heroes" exhibit at Disney's Epcot has been "temporarily" shut down.

Congratulations and profound gratitude is owed all the organizations and individuals who contacted Disney and Blue Cross Blue Shield, and to Disney for hearing them.

I wish it didn't have to be the eating disorders community to do this. Why does it take knowledge of life-threatening psychiatric illness to have a clue about weight shaming? Everyone should know this intuitively, and it has nothing to do with eating disorders. And yet the ones to put up alarms and speak out (and face horrifyingly ignorant and sickening backlash) are those in the eating disorder world? Thank you to the Binge Eating Disorder Association (BEDA), the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), ANAD, and all others who spoke up quickly and assertively.


Disney's Anti-Obesity 'Habit Heroes' Exhibit At Epcot Causes Controversy 



Now, Disney, time to make that "temporary" to a permanent status, tear it down, and get back to entertaining people.

Here's a blogger who says it well:

"Personal appearance has long been the most common reason for people to bully others, but we’ve succeeded in establishing a consensus that it’s not okay to make fun of people for having spots, or red hair, or for being short, etc. But apparently it’s still okay to make fun of people for being overweight. Because, you know, it’s their own fault. If Fatty over there would only lose some weight, they wouldn’t get picked on. We tell bullying victims how “it’s the bully’s fault, not yours. You’re not to blame.” And then we go and make an exception for fat people"

Comments

  1. Hi Laura, thanks for taking up this issue.
    This comment may be too random (if so, sorry!) but I was walking through a big US airport this week and read this cover story in Harpers, plastered all over one wall of the little mag/newspaper shop: "Starving your way to vigor: the benefits of an empty stomach"
    http://harpers.org/archive/2012/03/0083829
    and found it pretty upsetting. It seemed like something the ED community might have thoughts on (I immediately wondered what your take on it would be...)

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