Facebook Should Remove Its ‘Feeling Fat’ Emoticon, says activist group

An activist group in its recent petition argued that Facebook must remove its ‘feeling fat’ status emoticon. Activist group Endangered Bodies’ campaign urges the popular social network that the emoticon can be hurtful and also promotes body shaming.

Catherine Weingarten on her petition page wrote that being fat is not a feeling, and it’s a natural part of body, no matter what their weight is.

The smiley which is actually a chubby-cheeked smiley face, is one among the 100 other smiley’s offered by the social network. Facebook users often use these smileys when they post updates and posts.

Weingarten told the Daily News that a particular person who used the ‘feeling fat’ smiley might have chosen it as a joke.

But for people with eating disorders or low self-esteem use of such emoticon could be a loaded concept. She said several times people say that it is actually a way to put them down.

The popular networking site Facebook has so far made no immediate plans to remove the emoticon or make any alterations in it, a company rep told the Washington Post.

A Facebook spokesperson told The News, “People use Facebook to share their feelings with friends and support each other. One option we give people to express themselves is to add a feeling to their posts”.

He said that the site come up with the preloaded feelings based on people’s inputs. Users can also create their own, he added.

Weingarten suggested that there has to be a goofier way to get the point across, like they can use ‘feeling bloated’.

It has been found that ‘Remove the Feeling Fat Emoticon Option’ Change.org petition had more than 15,000 signatures as of Sunday afternoon.