You Might Think These Quarantine Memes are Funny, but Your Friends with Eating Disorders Don’t.
Content Warning: This article contains fatphobic memes/mention of ED behaviours.
Along with new world events, inevitably come fresh memes. And let me tell you, I — just like everyone else — love memes (particularly those of the ironic/meta variety).
However, some do more harm than good, and a current example of this is the weight-related memes which are circulating the internet, as a result of COVID-19 isolation.
I’m not trying to be the fun police here, but jokes at the expense of others are really not okay. You may not realise the harm you are doing in spreading content like this, but it can have serious consequences on the physical and mental health of those vulnerable to them.
Every hour, a person dies as a direct result of an eating disorder. For example, anorexia nervosa has the highest death rate of any psychiatric illness (including major depression). The mortality rate associated with anorexia nervosa is 12 times higher than the death rate of ALL causes of death for females 15–24 years old. However, there are also other eating disorders which are just as valid as anorexia, such as atypical anorexia; bulimia; orthorexia and binge eating disorder.
If you are unaware of the potential damage of sharing this kind of content, let me inform you.
The harm.
People who are in the depths of an eating disorder can easily be pushed further into dangerous behaviours, particularly when other people make negative associations with weight gain. Likewise, people who are not solid in their recovery can be triggered into relapsing. At the start of anorexia recovery, I was triggered into relapsing a number of times, as a result of other peoples’ comments. Besides that, they can be hurtful to people who may be insecure about their bodies.
If you have been harmed by these memes, as I have, I am terribly sorry.
Examples and their significance.
This post is problematic for a number of reasons. It links shame with food consumption, and suggests that we ought not trust our bodies/hunger cues. For people who already have a complicated relationship with food, this only reinforces the idea that a person would be correct to feel guilt about eating what their body asks for. A healthy relationship with food looks like intuitive eating — listening to your body, shame-free. Guilt has no place being associated with food.
Further, suggesting that it is a good idea to put a lock on the fridge may be damaging to those with an eating disorder. For example, anorexia sufferers will implement behaviours which ensure they are able to restrict food/certain food groups. Whilst I was anorexic, I refused to keep any food in my apartment at all, in fear of eating it whilst hungry. Thus, posts which encourage restrictive behaviours can be triggering for those who already try to restrict food/have a history of doing so.
This meme is obviously fatphobic, which is hurtful to people who do not meet arbitrary societal standards. Further, for people who are experiencing eating disorders, this may prevent them from seeking recovery.
This meme is particularly derogatory, as it ties worth to weight which is one reason many people develop eating disorders; implying that one is only worthy upon meeting specific and arbitrary requirements. This belief definitely perpetuated my development of anorexia.
Worth is inherent, no matter a person’s weight.
This meme is problematic, as it implies that a person can only be physically attractive if they go to the gym/have a certain body. This is harmful to people who do not have the typical “gym body” aesthetic and results in obsessive exercise, which may contribute to an eating disorder — during anorexia, I would go to the gym for hours each day on little to no food in pursuing weight-loss.
Experiences from people who have an eating disorder/have struggled with an eating disorder.
I reached out to people who suffer from eating disorders/are in recovery from an eating disorder, asking how these isolation weight gain memes make them feel. These are some of the unedited responses I received:
1)“Anytime I see them, I tend to get triggered. It’s the same with people posting “I’m gonna loose weight for this quarantine.” It seems both trigger me and once I see them I don’t really want to eat or I want to make myself vomit.
I haven’t had anorexia. But I’ve struggled with bulimia, and still am.
It really sucks when I see those posts and all of a sudden I’m thinking constantly about food and how much I intake.”
2)“I always think “if they’re so concerned with 10lbs in quarantine what do they say/think about my 45lb weight gain.”
3)“I honestly feel bad when reading/seeing this. It’s just another way showing bodyfat as something really bad to get rid of. And makes me feel uncomfy/greedy, because just because I am less active now my desire to wat is not smaller. Those memes indicate u HAVE TO eat less or do home workouts in quarantine. Like anything else is not acceptable. Plus as I am still gaining I feel akward, cause gaining weight is shown as something to avoid like plaque.
What I gotta add: It makes me angry. I mean it’s a damn pandemic. It may won’t kill everybody but there are people who are actually in danger, like my aunt who is chronically ill and has only half a lung. And those people have nothing to do than bodyshame.”
4)“My friend sent me a baby yoda meme to our group chat the other week. It said something like ‘me getting fatty fat on my quarantine snacky snacks’… and I felt so awful because if there is a fat person in our group it’s me. Mostly it just makes me feel sad that so many people mindlessly share things like that, and they don’t seem to think twice about how it can affect others. This particular moment it made me feel lonely and disconnected from my friends, and like I can’t talk to them about what’s happening with me because if they find a meme like that funny they probably won’t get it.”
5)“I am pretty solid in my recovery, however, the current stressful situation combined with literally everyone around me being hyper weight and food focused let me to slip up a few times and almost relapse. Fortunately I caught the behaviors early enough. I feel awful seeing those memes because they fuel the part of me that I am trying so hard to fight every day. In that sense I am like an alcoholic that is dry — whenever I am confronted with the medium of my addiction especially in an unhealthy manner like in those memes, it becomes harder and harder to resist.”
As you can see, content like the isolation weight-related memes may have a profound impact upon others — so much so that, in some cases, people with an eating disorder are tempted to engage in dangerous behaviours.
Please be mindful of others, particularly of those who may be vulnerable. Most people who have an eating disorder do not “look” like they have an eating disorder, so be on the safe side. Also, there is just no need to undermine any body type. Treat others how you would like to be treated. Just be a decent human being. Post wholesome memes instead. ❤
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