Amazon slammed for 'pro-anorexia' sweatshirt

In absolutely tasteless news: Amazon is selling a sweatshirt promoting anorexia.

The $25.88 black hoodie bears the phrase: “Anorexia: Like bulimia, except with self-control” and is sold by retailer ArturoBuch. The item has a one-star rating from 60 reviews and a collective demand for Amazon to remove the item.

Some reviews include: “Eating disorders kill people. This is horrible” and “This is offensive and wrong!! This needs to be removed. Would you print a sweatshirt joking about cancer? Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness and is no joking matter. Every 63 minutes someone dies from an eating disorder. Take this down immediately.”

An image of the sweatshirt was also posted to a Facebook group called Free to Be OK With Me, a body-positive organization, which expressed outrage. And the backlash was felt on Twitter, where the hashtag #BoycottAmazon made the rounds.

One reader even pointed out that the sweatshirt has been around since 2015, despite requests from the public to remove it.

Another Twitter user found other merchandise trivializing eating disorders, such as a T-shirt and a baby’s bib with the phrase, “I beat anorexia.”

A spokesperson for both Amazon and ArturoBuch did not return Yahoo Lifestyle’s request for comment. However, the latter also sells men’s T-shirts with the statement “Bros Before Hoes.”

According to Jen Eastwood, an organizer for “Free to Be OK With Me,” positioning eating disorders as fashion statements, or pitting one type against the other is counterproductive.

“Eating disorders are so under-recognized and under-funded in the mental health sector, yet one of the biggest killers — it’s beyond insensitive,” she told Yahoo Lifestyle. Part of the reason, she says, is because eating disorders often conjure images of super-skinny women, despite the fact that people with various body types can suffer.

“The research we’ve done shows how subliminal messages like from this sweatshirt affects people’s attitudes toward eating disorders and trigger those who are vulnerable,” she says. “It’s terrifying that this is ‘fashion'.”

For confidential support about eating disorders and body image issues you can free call the Butterfly Foundation National Hotline on 1800 33 4673.

Want more celebrity, entertainment and lifestyle news? Follow Be on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr and Instagram