I have a sense of humor – really I do but what the new show “2 Broke Girls” aired on Monday was just not funny.
Blonde Server: “A woman in my section wants to know if we do anything gluten free. what do i tell her?”
Response: ”Tell her she is not allergic to gluten she is just masking an eating disorder“
When I heard that my jaw dropped. Like, really? That is some dangerous language there & I can only hope that people who work in the restaruant business don’t feel that way. I really hope they don’t treat their customers that way. I have my reservations though.
Why do I get the feeling that this “joke” is because gluten-free diet is seen as a fad? Why do I get the feeling that this ‘joke’ would not fly if they replaced gluten-free with peanut-free?
This “joke” is not okay.
Related Posts: Treating the Gluten Free Diet as a ‘Fad’ is Dangerous
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Yeah, that is far from funny. I had not heard about this yet, but it has made me furious!
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Twitter: AccustomedChaos
October 5, 2011 at 10:53 am
I was shocked when i heard it too. it’s like the first 15 seconds into the show too. terrible!!!
Wow. Would the clever writers like to come spend a day with one of us when we have been glutened. Maybe then they can see the torment that ensues. I’d like to tell them where they can stick that “clever” little joke
Twitter: AccustomedChaos
October 5, 2011 at 10:38 pm
yeah seems many think we just get a tiny tummy ache or that we do it for ‘hippy, crunchy’ reasons…
I have celiac disease and I was so disappointed by this joke. Please – leave feedback for CBS! http://www.cbs.com/info/user_services/fb_global_form.php
I just submitted a lengthy and detailed comment for CBS on their site. I hope everyone else does the same.
Twitter: acctodenise
October 5, 2011 at 2:07 pm
Yeah that’s not good. It’s hard enough to get servers to take you seriously.
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Twitter: AccustomedChaos
October 5, 2011 at 10:36 pm
absolutely — terrible that many think you can just pick off the bread or that ‘we wont notice’ if we eat gluten … so dangerous
Twitter: itsdilovely
October 5, 2011 at 2:10 pm
This is ridiculous – I know SO MANY people who have had major health improvements from switching to a gluten-free diet, for many different reasons. But as a vegetarian, I have had many a joke made at my expense too. People will say any dumb thing for a laugh.
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Twitter: daddyrunsalot
October 5, 2011 at 3:08 pm
Eeeeek!
Yeah, totally not cool.
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I read about this on Twitter but didn’t see the actual clip until just now. Yeah, totally not ok. I am surprised that this is considered humor, then again it is CBS.
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Twitter: AccustomedChaos
October 5, 2011 at 10:35 pm
well, honestly the show as a whole is not funny
Oh how sad….and not even funny in any way! Can’t imagine it got one laugh.
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This is an issue close to my heart. I’m currently awaiting the results of blood tests to figure out what’s up with the digestive issues I’ve had for years now. One of those tests is to determine whether or not I have celiac. HOWEVER, I think you’re blowing this way out of proportion. For one thing, not everyone who eats gluten free actually has celiac or a wheat allergy. And, while doing my research, I read that if you don’t have celiac or a wheat allergy, then a gluten free diet doesn’t benefit you at all. I think the joke (the JOKE) on the sitcom (the SITCOM) was meant to target those people.
Ok, I thought I was done, but I’m not. Sitcoms make jokes at other people’s expense. They do it all the time. There are jokes about being gay, being straight, being Christian, being Jewish, having red hair, having blonde hair, being POOR (like the show you are talking about), being a sex addict, being a drug addict, being a gambling addict, shoplifting, doing drugs, having abortions, you name it, A SITCOM HAS MADE A JOKE ABOUT IT. Our culture has gotten way too sensitive.
Twitter: AccustomedChaos
October 5, 2011 at 10:34 pm
Yes, there are people who eat gluten free as a “fad diet” but if this mentality becomes common place – it will be very dangerous for those of us who – for serious medical reasons – need to eat gluten free. Maybe if there was more known about the medical need for gluten free- i would not be terrified of eating out at restaurants who already treat this as just a fad (to lose weight or the organic movement) or a choice (like veganism).
Cracking a joke about religion, sexual orientation or lifestyle may be mean-spirited and hurt their feelings – but treating a medical dietary restriction with such disrespect can physically damage.
If this mentality (which is seemingly the larger society opinion) continues i will lose options of dining out because the restaurant will think it’s funny to feed me gluten. If I wanted to lose massive amounts of blood with every bathroom trip, have bone aches so badly i cant move, not be able to eat anything solid, be so tired i am near useless for a month – i would feed myself gluten.
I don’t think our culture is too sensitive – i think the culture maybe too stuck in their own world (self centered) to realize what other’s may be going through.
Yes, I know what you mean. I had salmonella, and have had a slew of other health issues ever since because of it. When shows make light of food borne illnesses, something in me stirs. But, as a writer, I know they’re getting paid to get laughs. They aren’t trying to alienate people or hurt feelings (though they know they’re doing that anyway), they’re trying to keep their jobs by making timely jokes. And nothing’s timelier than the gluten free diet. I see your side, I surely do. As I said, it’s entirely possible that I myself have celiac. But, that’s *why* the joke made me laugh.
Twitter: RiotDollie
October 6, 2011 at 3:19 pm
“I don’t think our culture is too sensitive – i think the culture maybe too stuck in their own world (self centered) to realize what other’s may be going through.”
Actually agree with you, but then this:
“Cracking a joke about religion, sexual orientation or lifestyle may be mean-spirited and hurt their feelings – but treating a medical dietary restriction with such disrespect can physically damage.”
Is also being struck in your own world and not realizing what others may be going through. Religion, sexual orientation, race – all jokes that come in on the heels of savage, violent bigotry that has hurt, maimed and killed and is still doing so.
I’ve seen several instances of gluten free diet advocates (whether they have medical condition or be doing so as a lifestyle choice) claim that somehow these real life consequences that come from belittlement and dehumanization of others aren’t nearly so bad as when it’s a joke about someone they agree with. I’m absolutely appalled at the very notion of that, having experienced racial and religious prejudices and violence myself.
We have to learn to distinguish a joke from an attack, and I agree with bwsf we are way too sensitive if something like the joke I saw in that video stirred an outcry of prejudice when television says a lot worse and the rest of us are supposed to take it and be happy it’s not as bad as it used to be.
A good example being that I live not-so-far from a gun club that are also Sons of the Confederacy, aka modern Confederate soldiers who see the Civil War as something that is still going on for some reason. They think everyone is out to get them, even people who couldn’t possibly be talking about them. Example: Some off-handed remark was made about (possibly not EVEN about) a man being “trash” at the end of the remake of True Grit and for months afterwards they were up in arms, considering storming the studio to protest because they swore that it was a dig at the South.
Gluten free isn’t a bad thing, it’s absolutely necessary for some people and it’s a shame that even restaurants don’t know enough about it to take it seriously (that goes for vegetarianism and vegan-ism, too, there absolutely are people for which that is not a CHOICE but a MUST for their health – they are more accepted now than they were 10 years ago, though), but that doesn’t mean that every little joke is a ninja attack.
I can understand not agreeing and not thinking it’s funny, I really do. I absolutely do not understand the reaction I’ve seen since that aired.
A friend of mine recently posted on Twitter about how Jewish jokes in the media can turn into real-life violence for her and the response to that was something like, “Well, that’s not as bad as me not being able to go out to eat like everyone else.” (not directly quoting) And I just do *not* understand that.
Faith recently posted..Dear LunchBots – I Want You. #imabzzagent #bento
Twitter: AccustomedChaos
October 6, 2011 at 4:08 pm
Faith – thanks so much for your opinions. i would like to say that i am also against any type of ‘joke’ that pokes fun at someones race, religion, orientation etc. I did not intent to ‘compare’ the two & was only trying to address that both are harmful (*retrospectively i shouldn’t have said ‘but’) & with very little in the mainstream media & very little “loud” advocates in the media for the correct info for gf living- it wont be seen as ‘harmful’ because these “jokes” will then become mainstream.
Just because i think this was a terrible ‘joke’ doesn’t mean i think it’s the ‘worst thing that could be said on tv’… & i am certainly not starting some over the top boycott or movement … just sharing my opinion on this “joke”. I never said i felt attacked – i am just against the spreading of misinformation about the medical necessity for gluten free diet – because that is dangerous to me & my family… basically just saying that i didnt think it was funny.
But for the purpose of this discussion – i would not like to sway this conversation from the matter at hand and play a ‘which is worse’ game by comparing what this post is about to how other groups are portrayed on tv.
but i would like to say that it is easy to not understand something you don’t have to live daily.
Twitter: RiotDollie
October 6, 2011 at 4:58 pm
I think we agree fundamentally, and I didn’t mean to get into a “which is worse” thing – mostly I’ve just seem some absolutely horrible things compared (not here, necessarily, but in a lot of places) to bashing of a gluten-free lifestyle, and then downplayed as if they aren’t important.
I’m a big advocate for information over misinformation and awareness over apathy, but I do feel like people take things too far and do more damage to their message than they otherwise might have done by treating a joke on a third-rate sitcom as a serious attack.
Then the comments coming from upset viewers threatening censorship also confuse me. Of which I did see one or two in your comments section but I want to make clear that the majority of them I saw on Twitter and Facebook.
The only reason I brought it up is to put into perspective that a lot of people have it bad, and are bashed for it. But I would hope most take a joke as what it’s meant to be, funny or not, a joke.
I promise I’m not attacking you, I only attack the GOP lol. I’m just trying to show both sides of the coin when it comes to kidding around about something some people take seriously. It happens to all of us.
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Twitter: RiotDollie
October 6, 2011 at 1:08 am
I wish I could give you a thumbs up or a “like” for your comments.
Faith recently posted..Dear LunchBots – I Want You. #imabzzagent #bento
Wow. Disgusting. Seriously? That is so not funny. Just the opposite. Looks like the writers of this show are the problem.
Erin Swing recently posted..Pan-Fried Apple Rings with a Cider Maple Reduction (Gluten-Free)
I immediately thought of you when I heard this and definitely didn’t think it was funny. I hope people, especially those in the restaurant industry, do take this seriously in real life.
Mungee’s Ma recently posted..Bottoms up!
I’m so glad I wasn’t the only one who felt this way. I thought the joke was in horrible taste. Really, I was so angry, I had to change the channel. I was honestly about to hurl. I really hope this isn’t what people really think. The safety of so many people resides on how we are perceived through the media.
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Hey Devan! You have been tagged in the Liebster Blog Award! Please see my most recent post and congratulations!!
http://allergiesandceliac.blogspot.com/2011/10/liebster-blog-award.html#more
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I’m newly diagnosed w/ Celiac Disease and after over a year of being sick, a summer of iron infusions and a long road to healing my body the joke was really offensive. I deleted the show from my DVR not because I want to “boycott” but because after the joke I sincerely don’t like the character.
In the 5 months since I’ve been diagnosed I’ve been glutened 3 times with “gluten-free” restaurant foods. When that happens I’m horrifically sick for 6 or 7 days. What’s funny about that?
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I have come back to watch this again! Still in disbelief
I would love to get a hold of the producer and wring his neck! What were they thinking when they put that line in the script??? I’m going to share this link on my Celiac fb page. It needs to be seen!
Mary Hudak-Colllins recently posted..Poe-a-Tree Hop
Twitter: MoInColumbusOH
November 28, 2011 at 10:33 pm
Ignorant!
Caught it on the re-run tonight. Not funny.
Even not funnier a blog post on a site called The Model Life written about a week later, same idea, that eating gluten-free is an eating disorder. Some woman named Cassie came up with the same idea that someone eating chips and salsa is using gluten-free diet to hide an eating disorder. No mention of the sitcom or the line. Que coincidencia!
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Oh, Maureen. Give it up already. You should be embarrassed to recommend the link since your tactful comment at the end suggests that you are total bitch. The article itself is objective and raises a geniune concern, not that you seem to have a problem with the opinion, more so the source of the idea. Thank you for inspiring my next blog post. I’ll be sure to give you proper credit.
Twitter: MoInColumbusOH
December 1, 2011 at 4:56 pm
Cassie,
Do NOT email me again.
My apologies that you felt the comment on your post was hateful. I disagreed with you. I pointed out that your message is the same as the show. Coincidence? Your protests in your email, that it is a coincidence are not convincing. You ‘ll need to work on that story a bit.
Devan,
Please delete the link to Cassie’s post in my comment if you can. I would hate for Cassie’s message that eating gluten-free is an eating disorder to get traffic from this. Not sure why she is so determined to make a point that eating gluten-free is an eating disorder and that she has a story to prove it.
I missed a disclaimer on the site that having a dissenting view will get you harassed via email. She should disclose on her post “Gluten-Free: The New Eating Disorder?” that she only wants comments from people who will agree to her judgement that the woman eating corn chips and salsa has an eating disorder.
Cassie wrote “The woman said her diet restricted her to eating only the corn chips and salsa at the table.” That sounds like celiac disease to me. Or gluten sensitivity? A food allergy?
Cassie then says “A few cocktails later I was informed by the most trusted of sources – gossip that this same woman has suffered from an eating disorder her whole life. Very clever, I thought.”
Clever? Corn chips are not low calorie. Corn chips are high fat.
Maureen McCabe recently posted..Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit – December 2011
Yikes! I never said once that gluten-free was an eating disorder. How about the rest of the article that says “It [celiac disease] is certainly a real thing, and a gluten-free diet is absolutely necessary for people suffering from celiac disease to live a normal, healthy lifestyle… I’m not suggesting that everyone who follows a gluten-free diet has an eating disorder. What I am suggesting is that not everyone who follows a gluten-free diet has celiac disease. They may be using the diet to live a healthier lifestyle, but then again, they may be using it to mask an eating disorder in front of even close family members. You can’t really force a vegetarian to eat a fatty meat dish, and you certainly can’t force someone with what could be a legitimate autoimmune disorder to eat gluten… I guess what I am suggesting here is that you should perhaps be conscious of the idea that it is possible for someone to abuse the term “gluten-free diet.” If you suspect that someone close to you has struggled with an eating disorder and is now claiming to be gluten-free, perhaps you should find the courage to confront him or her in a loving and caring way. For that matter, if you suspect that someone close to you is struggling with an eating disorder at all, I think you should speak up. I wish I would have.”
Have an opposing view, that’s fine. Getting the conversation going is what blogging is all about. But in your original comment you made only one reference to an opposing view by saying “No way to know if the corn chip eating woman you are judging in your post has an eating disorder or truly has to eat a gluten free diet,” and the rest was just a slew of hurtful comments. Don’t you see?
You don’t have to believe me that the concept for the article was my own. After Googling the topic I found hundreds of articles posing the same question, so it turns out you are right. It was an unoriginal thought.
Anyway, I’d like to put it to rest. Agree to disagree. I’m not good at harboring hatred. I’m really sorry that you thought I was harrassing you by sending you an email. I honestly thought it would be more mature than commenting publicly. I’m also sorry if my article offended you. In the article I really was going for an objective viewpoint. Posing a question. Is this possible kind of thing.
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Not funny….not funny at all. Being a Celiac is very trying to say the least, to make fun of it makes me angry.
I have been posting this on every celiac org and did send a note to the celiac foundation. Not to mention CBS AND THE WRITERS AND PRODUCERS OF THIS SHOW. I have CD and personally been frustrated with eateries not being GF friendly! I was very annoyed with the incorrect information that was joked about! I think we are owed not only an apology but they should provide a segement on one of thhe characters getting diagnoised with this auto immune disease! Show some proper awarness! Thank you for putting it out there and will keep you posted if I here any back.
I thought it was simple, a joke. Whitney Cummings is a great comedian with very thought out jokes! And also I have a bff who’s gluten intolerant and I still laughed. Comparing Celiac’s Disease to a peanut allergy is stupid…. and incomparable. People with peanut allergies have their throats close up and die… people who are gluten intolerant get a stomach ache and merely have trouble with digestion……. maybe sick for a day perhaps 2 if you’re bodies weak.
I will admit comparing it to an eating disorder was harsh. The definition of an eating disorder is “any of several disorders marked by abnormal eating behaviors.” Maybe the general public see’s gluten free people as that definition because the gluten free don’t eat out a lot and if they do some menu’s may not cater to their needs. And then they are left eating some chips or salads and not eating a whole lot. I agree awareness can bring attention to those who are uneducated, but again, to compare Celiac’s to nut allergies is insane.
Twitter: AccustomedChaos
December 8, 2011 at 11:55 am
Carey
Just want to point out two things to your comment —
1. Whitney Cummings is not the actress on this show
2 — gluten intolerance and celiac disease are VERY different. Gluten intolerance would have people sick for a day or 2 & a stomach ache – people with celiac disease can be very sick for a while and it’s much more then just a simple stomach ache… (& just like there are varying degrees of peanut allergy – not all get anaphylaxis from it – there are varying degrees of effects from celiac disease)
THIS is the reason why there needs to be advocacy because even you (who for some reason having a “bff with a gluten intolerance” makes it okay for you to think it’s funny) don’t know the difference between celiac disease and gluten intolerance. (please read: http://accustomedchaos.com/gfreemyth3)
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