Lady Gaga’s tweet sparks outrage from eating disorder campaign groups

London: Lady Gaga’s tweet about her diet and exercise regime has sparked a backlash from fans and eating disorder campaign groups. In a message to her nearly 23million followers the 26-year-old singer said that while eating a ‘healthy’ salad, she was dreaming about cheeseburger.

“Just killed back to back spin classes. Eating a salad dreaming of a cheeseburger #PopSingersDontEat #IwasBornThisWay,” a leading daily has quoted her as tweeting. The likely innocent joke backfired, though, with The National Eating Disorder Association responding with a tweet that read: “Huh? This is the same person who recently implored girls to stop dieting?” The organisation was referring to the fact that, in February, Gaga publicly urged young women to cultivate a healthy body image, admitting that she had been bulimic in high school, and had been obsessed with being a ‘skinny little ballerina.’ While some of the singer’s fans defended the tweet, perceiving it as a sarcastic remark seasoned with irony, the majority of responses were negative. Many believe that eating disorders should never be joked about, although some fans are applauding the transparency of her comment, saying it raises awareness of the constant struggle in popular culture for women to convey a perfect body image. One of her fans responded on Twitter, writing: “@ladygaga why would you even promote a message like that? Disgusting that you’d joke about such a serious illness.” Others, though, found her comment refreshing, showing fans that she is a ‘normal’ woman who had a problem, has faced that problem, but also has a human tendency to desire foods we are told are bad for us. “Exercise and healthy eating is NOT an eating disorder. How about the hashtag #getoverit,” one fan wrote. ANI