The status option “feeling fat” that is paired with a chubby-faced emoticon on Facebook appears to have vanished after a petition against it gained traction.
Catherine Weingarten of the body-image group Endangered Bodies started a petition on Change.org that urges the social media site to remove the “feeling fat” status option because it allows users to “mak[e] fun of people who consider themselves to be overweight, which can include many people with eating disorders” and “endors[es] self-destructive thoughts.”
The petition, which declares “fat is not a feeling,” has received well over 16,000 supporters.
Tuesday, the “feeling fat” status option is no longer available for selection on the site, though the chubby-faced emoticon remains with the caption “feeling stuffed.” However, individuals who want to say that they are “feeling fat” can still write in the status themselves.
According to a statement on its website, Endangered Bodies and its international chapters have created the #FatIsNotaFeeling global campaign that encourages Facebook to internationally get rid of its “feeling fat” and “feeling ugly” status options. The “feeling ugly” option still remains Tuesday.
“Fat is a substance that every body has and needs. Fat is also an adjective — a descriptive word about a physical attribute,” the group declares. “Just like tall, short, black or white, it should not be misused to shame oneself or others.”
It appears the campaign against the “feeling fat” option has been successful in the United States, at least for the time being.
