Facebook Has Ditched The "Fat" Emoji After A Petition Saying "Fat Is Not A Feeling"

    Update: Facebook has responded in a statement and removed "feeling fat" as one of their status update options.

    Julie Gerstein
    by Julie Gerstein

    BuzzFeed Staff

    After more than 16,000 people signed the Change.org petition, Facebook today removed "feeling fat" from their status update options.

    Facebook wrote in a statement:

    We've heard from our community that listing "feeling fat" as an option for status updates could reinforce negative body image, particularly for people struggling with eating disorders. So we're going to remove "feeling fat" from the list of options. We'll continue to listen to feedback as we think about ways to help people express themselves on Facebook.

    Read the original story below.

    Facebook is always looking for ways to pinpoint exactly what you're doing and how you're feeling.

    Facebook.com

    Fun fact: When you post a status update, the site asks, "how are you feeling?" and the suggested answers include "fat" and "ugly."

    Facebook.com

    Some activists feel that Facebook needs to remove those options from its endless list of "feelings," because they say it promotes negative body image.

    This is Rebecca Guzelian. Rebecca is one a group of activists that started a Change.org petition encouraging Facebook to remove the "ugly" and "fat" feelings options.

    change.org

    "Did you know that Facebook lets you tell all your friends just how much you hate your body?," reads the petition.

    "Having these word choices completely normalizes using derogatory descriptive terms in the place of real feelings," said Guzelian on the petition. "How can a person feel ‘fat’ or ‘ugly’ when these aren't actually feelings?" ... "What’s worse is that these adjectives are judgmental and forced on us by society to make women (and increasingly men) feel negatively about their otherwise healthy bodies!"

    Guzelian is interning as a clinical psychologist and works with people struggling with eating disorders.

    linkedin.com

    "When someone says 'I feel fat' what they’re really communicating is that they feel unattractive, unhappy, embarrassed and insecure about their body," she continued. "And believe it or not, these feelings are most commonly a response to the unrealistic, culturally promoted ideals of thinness and beauty that are shoved in our faces every single day."

    Another Change.org petition also wants to teach Facebook that "fat is not a feeling."

    change.org

    "As someone who has struggled with and overcome disordered eating," writes petition author Catherine Weingarten, "I know what it’s like to 'feel' fat. I have spent years of my life consumed with negative thoughts about my body, and far too many days starving myself in an effort to lose weight. But even worse than the skipped meals and the hours spent obsessing in front of the mirror was the fear of what others thought about me and my body."

    Many have shared their support of the campaign on Twitter.

    Your Eatopia @RealYourEatopia

    As fat is a hormone producing organ and not a feeling, please would you add: Feeling Kidney. Feeling Brain. Feeling Pancreas. etc. @facebook

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    Amy Godfrey @nudesomnambulis

    Feeling fat is not a euphemism for feeling rubbish about yourself - tell facebook we don't dig self-bashing emoticons http://t.co/4wWRfh0w2n

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    Kari Collins @oneseventy

    I may struggle with feelings-words, but even I know fat is not a feeling, Facebook. Sheesh. http://t.co/f5w0uLx7cI

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    PreciousThing @PreciousThing

    Facebook: Remove the‘I Feel Fat’ & ‘I Feel Ugly’ status options and emoticons! Fat is not a feeling! http://t.co/FsmY9z0NfD via @UKChange

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    At last count, both petitions have accumulated around 13,500 signatures, with the goal of reaching 15,000.

    Geek Monkey @lord_sphinx

    Fat is not a feeling @facebook. You're supporting #bullying.

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    So far, Facebook has stuck by its emojis.

    facebook.com