How does that work?
The only ED I have is the one where I put food in my mouth too much, and then having to take a shit load of insulin to cover it.
It’s more common than you might think. Referring to diabetes itself as an eating disorder, even jokingly, is really very insensitive.
Dawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. This is so cute it gave me diabetes. :3
Why in gods name would you associate cuteness and diabetes? You do realize what diabetes is, right? Infections, hospitalizations, syringes, bleeding… doesn’t sound very cute to me.
WHOAH calm down.. you don’t need to get so angry. She didn’t mean it in an offensive way. We both are in a sorority where over 50% of our girls have diabetes, so we know that it’s not a walk in the park, it was just a figure of speech.
Whoa, it’s almost like intent isn’t magic and you can be offensive without meaning to be! (On that note, just because you know diabetics doesn’t mean anything in cases like this)
See, but we watch them go through those struggles and make this joke all the time (literally, this joke is said all the time). Because they can live their life without dwelling on the fact that they have a disease. We do not need anyone to criticize something we hear from diabetics all the time. I understand where you’re coming from, but I also want to show you our side. It was a little thing, I’m sorry if it offended you.
Addressing the bolded part. You may hear these jokes from the diabetics you know and hang out with, and if they allow you to participate in these jokes, that is fine when it’s around them. Because they have fairly clearly given you permission to joke about it with them.
Note the emphasis there. Just because the diabetics you know personaly are okay with these jokes does not mean that other diabetics are okay with these jokes. A lot of diabetics find these jokes annoying, ignorant, and harmful. If a diabetic finds these jokes offensive, they have ever right to tell you, “That’s not funny.”
Because unlike a diabetic, a non-diabetic does not live diabetes, and does not get a free pass to make jokes about the disease just because they know someone who is okay with the joking.
The “my friend/family member is a diabetic, so I can do this” is a really, really annoying excuse.
Americans earn a failing grade on diabetes awareness, based on survey results released today by the American Diabetes Association. In general, Americans earned a 51% when asked a series of questions about a disease so common that it strikes every 20 seconds. The survey results revealed that many diabetes myths and misconceptions still exist, while the disease’s prevalence continues to rise.
Yes, the title of this post is in reference to Wilford Brimley, who to some people is best known for Liberty Medical advertisements and his particular pronunciation of diabetes as “di-uh-beet-us.” The commercial has spawned numerous cat macros, as well as continued laughter over the pronunciation. I am sure Mr. Brimley’s commercials helped many Americans, but the part where lots of other Americans have turned it into a joke? Not really helping anybody.
The trope that “X is so sweet it’s gonna give me diabetes,” when X is generally some over the top cute or twee (when it’s not food related) or when it is just really, really sugary (if it’s a food)? Not really that funny either, because it perpetuates the misconception that too much sugar causes diabetes.
It’s so much more complicated than that. There can be genetic factors, environmental factors, factors that include how a human body reacts to certain viruses, and yes, weight can be a factor. But it isn’t always.
Both Type 1 (insulin dependent–meaning a person has to give herself/himself injections of insulin using syringes, syringe pens, or an insulin pump) and Tye 2 (usually–but not always–treated with something other than insulin injections) are on the rise. Both are on the rise in children, for whom it is especially not a laughing matter.
Two major organizations that advocate for increased research into better treatments for diabetes are the American Diabetes Association (www.diabetes.org) and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (www.jdrf.org). The ADA covers both types of diabetes, while the JDRF focuses on Type 1. Both of these sites have excellent information on symptoms, treatments, and how to cope with life with diabetes no matter how old or how young someone is when they are diagnosed. They provide information on coping with health complications that can arise when blood glucose levels are not controlled (and controlling blood sugar levels is not always easy: there are so many things that can influence them, a lot of which people can’t control like stress or hormonal fluctuations), or things that people with diabetes are just at a greater risk for.
I plan to post more on diabetes during this month, as I said in an earlier post. This is a start. It can be an emotional topic for me. It’s been part of my life for almost fourteen years now, and it will be a part of my life for however many years I have to go.
Kirkwall Was Totally Built On a Hellmouth 