Eating Disorder-Themed Clothing Angers Moms on Twitter

Bulimia and anorexia: Universally not funny, right? Yet the deadly eating disorders are being used as fodder for a spate of DIY-made items available to purchase on the custom products retail site CafePress.com — including T-shirts, baseball caps, boxer shorts, magnets and even baby bibs.

“Bulimia makes me want to puke!” screams the bright-green slogan printed on an $11.99 thong and $16.99 pair of boxers. Then there’s the V-neck shirt, declaring, “Bulimia blows chunks” in bright-red block letters; the white crewneck tee emblazoned with the fuchsia phrase “Anorexia (an-uh-rek-see-uh): Like bulimia, but with self control”; an “Anorexia survivor” organic onesie; and the little white bib, which says, simply, “Bulimia.”

The bizarre clothing items — created by individuals who use CafePress as a design and sales portal — are fueling the ire of a group of mothers whose youngsters have battled eating disorders. It’s the same group that, through its tenacious tweets, pressured high-end eyewear designer Thierry Lasry to change the name of its “Anorexxxy” sunglasses line to “Axxxexxxy” in March. Earlier this week, the mothers, who comprise both Mothers Against Eating Disorders (MAED) and International Eating Disorder Action (IEDA), tweeted criticisms of the Hudson's Bay Company for its "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels" T-shirts, which the company pulled from shelves. Fired up by that victory, the women have been relentless in their tweeting to bring attention to the CafePress clothing items that they say are both offensive and harmful.

The groups first notified CafePress in May about the eating disorder–themed items, emailing a letter (made available to Yahoo Shine) to the content usage department. “We are mothers of children — young & older, boys & girls, some even parents themselves, who have watched loved ones battle and sometimes lose their fight with an eating disorder,” the letter, signed by organization representatives Debra Schlesinger, Jennifer Denise Ouellette, Amy Cunningham, and Evelyn Cohen, reads. “We are hoping you will support us in our efforts to 'rebrand' this disease by refusing to carry merchandise with content that mocks and degrades people suffering from eating disorders. Anorexia can have a mortality rate of 20%. We don’t make fun of other deadly diseases in this manner. Compare the offerings related to cancer with those about eating disorders.”

Ouellette tells Yahoo Shine that the women have yet to hear a response from CafePress, beyond an automatically generated email acknowledging receipt of their correspondence. But a spokesperson for CafePress, Sarah Segal, assures Yahoo Shine that the concerns are “being addressed.” She notes that one explanation for the baby items might be that, when people create designs, they are given the option to add to "all products." Segal also emailed the following statement:

"It has been recently brought to our attention certain content on our site may be considered offensive. As you may know, CafePress is an automated service that allows users to upload merchandise designs into online shops and/or the CafePress marketplace. CafePress’ independent design community spans the globe, and as such the range of user-designed products varies widely in topic, taste and opinion."

The statement continues: "While the majority of the designs created around these topics … focus on images that support those impacted by these disorders, we recognize the existence of user-generated designs that do not appeal to everyone. These designs are being reviewed on a case-by case basis for inconsistencies with our content usage policy."

Prohibited content, according to the CafePress policies, include Nazi symbols, racist terms, “inappropriate” nudity, suicide promotion, images that exploit minors, and “material that is generally offensive or in bad taste, as determined by CafePress.”

As for whether the eating-disorder clothing items fall into that category, stay tuned: The jury’s still out.

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