For the past week, I’ve been starving – I haven’t been able to eat a lot of meat, which is unashamedly a large part of my diet. Every time I bite a piece of meat, I suddenly lose my appetite and I spit it into the trash. Although I’ve been improving by distracting myself with endless YouTube videos during dinner, it’s been a challenge trying to consume a whole meaty meal.

I lost my appetite for meat after going to Bodies: The Exhibition at the Luxor. Admittedly, I did little research before embarking on the field trip, so I was completely unaware that the entire premise of the exhibition was the fact that all the samples and models were actual people.

The exhibition focuses on a process called “plastination,” in which human cadavers are positioned and preserved in a non-toxic process for the “benefits of anatomy.” The exhibition is separated into various rooms dedicated to different bodily systems, and features several diseased organs and figures. The demonstrations of these cadavers in various action poses are meant to highlight the intricacies and complexities of muscles, tissues and diseases within the human body, offering a completely new experience for anatomy students who are used to fake plastic models.

At first, I could handle what I encountered, but it all changed when I glimpsed a headless adolescent with their skull exposed and their facial surfaces still intact. For a good 15 minutes, tearful emotions suddenly arose as I stared blankly at the closed eyelids of the young child and their missing brain, reminding me of my brother whom I’ve dedicated my life to. The specimen made me question the integrity of the entire exhibition and prompted me to conduct some research of the exhibition.

All the bodies came from China, as explained by the tour guide. However, the cause of death and identities were purposefully kept from the patrons. Further internet research shows that other Bodies exhibitions have featured executed political prisoners and trafficked human cadavers, as proven by executives and researchers. The Dalian Medical University Biology Plastination Ltd., which is where most of the specimens came from, was proven to have collaborated with Chinese police to acquire cadavers.

Not only that, but China is notorious for their human rights abuses, political imprisonment, and plentiful executions. It isn’t insane to question the legitimacy of these cadavers – after all, if a country’s government is currently committing genocide, a globally forced organ harvesting operation committed by them is totally plausible.

But even if the bodies are‌ legitimate volunteers, the entire operation is just too immoral. Having human remains on display for visitors to gawk over isn’t morally right. These people had legitimate lives, and I doubt any of them lived and died just to have drunk casino goers snap a photo of their insides and possibly spill a beer on their forever-frozen bodies. Realistically, even if it claims to be for “educational purposes,” they should reserve these types of experiments for a medical institution, not the inside of a casino. Although the anatomy of the human body is intriguing and awareness of diseases is important, it doesn’t require the petrified head of a child or the fetal remains of a deceased pregnant woman’s womb to be front and center for general observation.

It probably won’t be easy to eat for at least another week without the petrified remains of a child bobbing around in my mind. At least the exhibition gave me an understanding of how important health is, but morally speaking, spending two hours with beheaded children and executed Chinese prisoners wasn’t necessary.