I just got off the phone with Disney because I wrote them an irate email for the attraction and game called “Habit Heroes”.
And I was told that their attraction is closed for right now so they can make adjustments and whatnot. But that they had a 90% positive feedback from the people who went on it before they closed it down.
Then I asked her how many of those people were fat. She didn’t have a stat for that.
It went on for about 25 minutes, and I asked her how they could allow body shaming in their attractions. I also asked her how it would look for a fat child who went into that ride. Instant body hatred.I got my opinion out there. Write them emails. Tell them what you think. Be heard.
What do you think could be done for this kind of body shaming?
If they had 90% positive feedback (which, I suspect is a made up number, though I don’t doubt most people are in favor of humiliating and stigmatizing fat children,) that’s just a proof of how the exhibit is dangerous. It would show the extent to which they are exploiting the status quo of shaming fat kids to make things even worse. I can tell you, the reaction since I posted my article has been 99% critical of Disney, so I guess our meaningless numbers cancel each other out. Maybe we can get back to how the exhibit and website not only encourage fat children to feel shame and humiliation, but encourage other children to bully fat children as well.
I can’t imagine what it would feel like to be a fat child walking out of an exhibit that so explicitly defined my body as awful and shameful. It would just be such an awful, humiliating experience. Is that sort of dream Disney wants to make come alive? Because it sounds to me like a nightmare. Fat kids already know that everyone wants them to stop being fat. They hear it from their peers, their family, their doctors, their teachers. They hear it from TV, movies, and eventually most hear it from themselves. Habit Heroes seems to be premised on the notion that fat kids are unaware that they should hate their bodies. Its a pretty common attitude among those invested in fat stigmatization. They figure if its all just a matter of yelling at fat people loud enough so we finally realize that we need to stop being fat. Its so detached form reality as to be disrespectful and downright hostile. When children are baring the brunt of that abuse, its beyond inexcusable. No matter how much Disney or others things picking on those kids is for their own good.
Playing through the sites video game and reading reports about those who’ve experienced the exhibit, I don’t see how “Habit Heroes” can be redeemed. The entire project was constructed around negative association and that’s inherently going to shame and stigmatize children. I fear they are just hoping the fervor dies down or that they’ll be able to do just enough to placate their critics who oppose fat shaming, but ultimately still define fat children as a problem to be solved. Sadly, those people often just want shaming to be less explicit, more comfortably denied. Those of us who think we need to stop defining fat children as problems, and start giving them opportunities to discover eating and exercise habits that will work for their bodies and lives… well, I’m not sure Disney or their Health Insurance Industry funders really care about us at all.
(Source: tripp89)
