MINNIE MOUSE IS NOT FAT, SHE'S A CARTOON!

Jennifer Livingston a news anchor received a letter written by a man who said she was not a suitable role model for young girls because of her weight, and that she had a responsibility to the community to be smaller. Luckily, she put the smack down on this asshole.

She isn't the only woman that society is trying to change. According to Barney's Minnie Mouse is in fact too fat. They decided that they would airbrush her to be skinnier for their upcoming campaign. According to one of their representatives Minnie Mouse "wouldn't look good in the clothes the way she is". What is really upsetting about this is that Minnie Mouse wouldn't even be targeted towards young women or teenage girls, the people who are going to be most drawn to her are children. So we're talking about an ad campaign targeting little girls who are around 5 years old or younger. It's incredibly disturbing. Luckily there is a petition that was started telling Barney's to pull the campaign immediately. The petition also includes some of these statistics regarding eating disorders in girls.

"Meanwhile, hospitalizations for eating disorders in children younger than 12 years old rose by 119% from 1999 to 2006 according to a report issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) published in the journal Pediatrics.

According to sources cited on the non-profit National Association of Anorexia and Associated Eating Disorders website:

•47% of girls in 5th-12th grade reported wanting to lose weight because of magazine pictures.

• 69% of girls in 5th-12th grade reported that magazine pictures influenced their idea of a perfect body shape.

• 42% of 1st-3rd grade girls want to be thinner.

• 81% of 10 year olds are afraid of being fat."

http://www.change.org/petitions/barneys-leave-minnie-mouse-alone?alert_id=nUuLHSQPpV_ZfpmqBrUCk&utm_campaign=11899&utm_medium=email&utm_source=action_alert

*** Since we are on the topic of eating disorders, I wanted to include an incident that happened to me recently. I was at a social gathering when a friend decided to point out very loudly that he thought I was "too skinny and needed to eat more." Okay, first off it's never acceptable, nor should anyone ever make a comment about a woman's body whether it be that she is apparently "too skinny" or "too fat". Most women have struggled with an eating disorder at some point and these types of comments can be triggering. In my case, I used to LOVE when people would tell me I was too skinny or be almost horrified by my weight, because as someone who was in the midst of an eating disorder I took that as a sign that I was achieving my goal of being skinny and as a sign of success. So to me that was a HUGE compliment, not an insult.

If you are concerned about a woman or girl you know, and you think she may be struggling with an eating disorder, I do encourage you to say something, but here are some guidelines to follow. First off saying something at a social gathering, not acceptable, instead sit down and talk to her when appropriate, maybe at her house when it is JUST the two of you and it's a safe environment. Don't accuse her of anything or press the issue, because then she will probably get defensive and it will push her further away. Just tell her you love her, you care about her, and you are worried about her. That you support her, and if she ever needs to talk you are there for her. If you have any information about an eating disorder support group you could give it to her then, also I would recommend contacting a group and talking to them before you even sit down with her to get more guidelines about what to say/what not to say. And don't bring everyone you know, because then she'll feel ganged up upon, just have it be you and her and keep it simple. Even if she doesn't respond in a positive way she will be grateful that you care enough about her to say something. Also keep in mind that she probably doesn't see what she is doing as a problem, and that eating disorders can result in a massive amount of damage to the body, as well as death, so it is super important that she does get help.

I also don't think that my friend was trying to be mean, I think he was worried. On top of that we live in a culture in which women's bodies are public property and that's how we talk about them. Because of that, it's super important for both women and men to be very conscious about what we say in regards to women's bodies, and to only say positive things about our own bodies as well as about other women's bodies.