You may have noticed that when you update your status on Facebook there is an option to add a feeling emoticon. Some of them include happy, sad, worried, blessed, annoyed, tired, angry, and the list goes on. One of the options is “fat”. Feeling fat? Is that an emotion? One group doesn’t think so, and is upset by this option saying that it encourages self destructive thought patterns.
The non-profit group Endangered Bodies includes seven activists from around the world to serve as ambassadors for the Change.org petition, and it includes Ohio-based graduate student and playwright Catherine Weingarten.
She tells People Magazine, “I always had this idea of ‘I’m fat,’ ‘I feel fat,’ but when I was saying that, that wasn’t actually how I was feeling,” she says. “I was feeling angry at myself and like I wasn’t good enough, but I simplified it to ‘I feel fat.’ Through therapy, I was able to work through it, and now I feel like, ‘Wow I never felt fat. I felt like I wasn’t good enough.’”
Having struggled with an eating disorder when she was younger, Weingarten explains further why she feels it’s harmful. “For me, when I see the words ‘I feel fat,’ it takes me back to when I was struggling, and I don’t want people to not take it seriously,” she says. “When people see that on Facebook, I want them to realize that it’s not just a light, cute sort of thing for everyone.”
The petition asking Facebook to remove the emoticon has gathered more than 13,000 signatures. Facebook has taken notice, but in a statement they gave to PEOPLE they have no plans to remove the “feeling fat” emoticon. Instead they encourage those with eating disorders to seek help from a friend.
“People use Facebook to share their feelings with friends and support each other,” the statement reads. “One option we give people to express themselves is to add a feeling to their posts. You can choose from over 100 feelings we offer based on people’s input or create your own.”
Endangered Bodies is encouraged by the open dialogue and still has hope for change.
What are your thoughts? Is this emoticon damaging to youth, or do you think it’s blown out of proportion?
