After a life-threatening battle with anorexia, survivor Jessi Davin of Orlando, Florida hits out against the popular costume Anne Rexia.
The costume which was a naughty and sexy depiction of anorexics is a little black number with a skeleton design and a tape measure belt on it. A playful red and white hair ribbon tops the look.
Anna Rexia first hit the shelves in 2011. Although a number of stores took the merchandise down immediately after, it was reintroduced to stores in 2013. It is not only massively popular but has actually sold out.
To Jessi and most of the protesters against Anna Rexia the costume trivialises the condition, a danger in itself given the stealthy nature of anorexia as it ushers suffering individuals onto the brink of self-destruction.
Jessi's treatment lasted for four difficult years. In those yours she had to use a feeding tube, move about in a wheelchair and depend on a shower chair. She was too weak to walk and to even stand. In her blog is a photo of Jessi hooked up to a feeding tube on New Year's Eve.
She recalled constantly being at risk of losing consciousness and of going into cardiac arrest. She was first diagnosed with anorexia at the age of 19 and went through treatment until she was 22.
Despite the progress and recovery that Jessi has achieved today at 26, she is still living with the aftermath of her illness. She has gotten married recently and is seven months into her first pregnancy. As a precaution, she has gone back into treatment to ascertain that her history of illness does no harm to her child.
Acknowledging the intent on humour with the costume she highlights, however, the gravity and danger attributed to anorexia.
'Anorexia is nothing to party about or laugh at. It's real, it's deadly, and should not be marketed as a slutty outfit,' she said. 'Want to dress as "Anna Rexia"? Just go as a Vampire, or a Zombie. Because 1/3 of us are dead.'
'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.'
