Just in case you haven't been paying attention to Facebook lately, there's actually an emoticon that is receiving lashing and a petition, which has already garnered thousands of supporters in just a short time.
Facebook has a "feeling fat" emoticon. It still remains a smiling face but quite a bigger one, perhaps to represent fatter or chubbier cheeks. While this is merely an emoticon to some, for many men and women, it only worsens the stigma fat people face every day.
Endangered Bodies, a movement that aims to improve a person's self-image, has started a new campaign called FatIsNotAFeeling against the emoticon. For them--and for many others--fat is not a feeling but a very real presence in our society.
In one of their Facebook posts, they have launched the campaign to avoid further worsening the challenges fat people go through including being discriminated from work, receiving lesser income, and even being mistreated and disrespected by their own physicians. By allowing people to say they're feeling fat in their statuses, it only gives the impression that being fat is bad.
Some of the members of the group have also commented, saying that the emoticon paves the way for making fun of individuals who think they're fat, including those who battle eating disorders. Majority of those who develop anorexia or bulimia have a wrong perception about their body size. Thinking they're overweight even if they're not, they're forced to go through a very restricted diet that leaves them severely malnourished.
The group has eventually taken their campaign to Change.org with a petition that has garnered more than 12,000 supporters in only 2 weeks. The campaign has also been featured by popular websites and media such as Bustle and Cosmopolitan UK.
A spokesperson of the biggest social networking website in the world commented that these emoticons are there to help people express themselves better to friends and family and receive support.