Woman writes powerful post about controversial Halloween costume

Sam Fox
Updated
'Anna Rexia' Halloween Costume Sparks Controversy
'Anna Rexia' Halloween Costume Sparks Controversy



Ever since it was first produced in 2011, a Halloween costume labeled "Anna Rexia," depicting a "sexy skeleton," has surfaced on social media each October. Two years ago, 26-year-old Jessi Davin decided to do something about it. In an effort to display the insensitivity and ignorance of the costume, she penned a blog post detailing her personal experiences with anorexia. The post is once again circulating on social media and becoming more viral than ever.



Davin was diagnosed with anorexia when she was 19 years old and remained in treatment until the age of 22. In the blog post that she uploaded on Tumblr, she listed all of the side effects and troubles that accompanied her disease. She wrote:

-4 years of hospitalization
-A nasogastric feeding-tube because you've starved yourself so much that your body doesn't recognize food as a good thing and tries to attack itself.
-Re-Feeding Syndrome, which can kill you.
-Emotional struggles for years.
-A father crying and pleading on his knees begging for you to get help
-A mother who cries every time she sees you because you look and SMELL like death.
-Holidays missed, birthdays crying in a hospital.
Almost every major organ in your body failing.
-A shower chair - because you can't stand in the shower because you're too weak and the warm water could make you pass out.
-A wheelchair, because you are too weak to walk and it could make you go into cardiac arrest.
-A lifetime of medications for anxiety and the health issues "Anna Rexia" caused.
-Plenty of money for multiple ER trips due to "Anna Rexia" even in recovery.
-And if you don't get help like I do, or even if you do, a coffin. Because I've lost more friends to this eating disorder then anything I've ever faced.
-I almost died from this. I know it's supposed to be funny and shit and yeah I get that, but seriously.




Davin's post has been shared thousands of times on social media since she first uploaded it. She told Buzzfeed News:

"I definitely didn't expect it to get so big. I'm very happy it did. Even if I did put myself out there into a vulnerable spot. I think eating disorders are a disease a lot of people really don't take seriously in the first place, and to see that costume really just made me think 'OK. I can't be silent about this anymore. I need to show the harsh reality that is anorexia. It's not a joke.' So I did just that."


Davin went on to explain why the Halloween costume proves that people need to become more educated about mental illnesses, especially eating disorders. She said:

"I think costumes like ['Anna Rexia'] really show how much we as a society have to learn about mental illness and the way it affects the people around us. People need to know that if you suffer from an eating disorder — you aren't a joke. If my post helps spread awareness for anorexia and other eating disorders and helps those who don't understand maybe comprehend just a little bit more, then I've accomplished what I set out to do."


As Davin proves in her post, there's nothing funny or cute about a disease that has killed so many people and that continues to hurt individuals and their families. Davin wrote:

%shareLinks-quote="Want to dress as 'Anna Rexia?' Just go as a vampire, or a zombie. Because 1/3 of us are dead." type="quote" author="Jessi Davin" authordesc="" isquoteoftheday="false"%

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