Plus-Size Women Photoshopped To Look Thinner In 'Horrendous' Social Media Trend #ThinnerBeauty | HuffPost Life

This Trend Where Plus-Size Women Are Photoshopped To Be Thinner Is 'Horrendous'

Rachel Moss— The Huffington Post UK

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Fat-shaming has just been taken to a whole new "absolutely horrendous" level, with a new Photoshop trend called Thinner Beauty.

People have been digitally editing images of others, without their permission, in order to make them look thinner.

They then post the two images side by side onto social media sites along with the hashtag #ThinnerBeauty.

Although some of the posts feature men, the vast majority of those attacked have been women.

So far, familiar faces including plus-size model Tess Holliday and actress Rebel Wilson have featured in posts.

An Instagram account titled Project Harpoon is dedicated to reposting images posted with the hashtag and on Facebook.

A page with the same name claims #ThinnerBeauty is about ending skinny-shaming, rather than fat-shaming.

"In current societal fashion, a recent trending surge of 'pro-obesity' and 'fat acceptance' have paved the way for many people to renounce exercise and personal healthcare in general," the account's description reads.

"This page aims to only show that being skinny is okay as well. Skinny-shaming is not okay."

But not everyone is convinced this trend has an innocent motive.

Rivkie Baum, editor of plus-size magazine SLiNK, says she finds the trend "absolutely horrendous".

"Women's bodies are continuously dissected by the media, but this takes it to a whole new level and violates their bodies in a whole different way," she tells HuffPost UK Lifestyle.

"For some reason we still believe women's bodies especially are public property and that needs to stop.

"I also think it is high time that social media sites take responsibility for the content they allow, as something like this doesn't reinforce health but can in fact enforce the idea of chasing thinness whatever the cost."

Baum isn't the only one to condemn the hashtag.

A model who features in a campaign for lingerie brand Neon Moon - a feminist company that doesn't retouch images - was among those who received the Photoshop treatment from Project Harpoon.

The page's creator reportedly shared the image along with the comment: "Wow, from a depressed chub to an elegant fox!"

The brand's founder, Hayat Rachi, demanded that the creator of the edited image take it down.

"I am shocked at the blatant use of Photoshop by Project Harpoon to fat shame women," she told the MailOnline.

"I was utterly disappointed to find a photo of our model Photoshopped [to look] unrealistically thin without any permission granted.

"A person's health cannot be determined from how a person looks. Their sole purpose is to harass women, and nothing more. They are disgusting."

We agree with Project Harpoon on one thing - skinny-shaming is not okay - but the #ThinnerBeauty trend is most definitely not the way to fix the problem.

SEE ALSO:
Teenager Bullied For Birthmarks Covering Body Gives Us A Lesson In Body Confidence: 'Everyone Is Born To Look Different'
Melissa McCarthy Wants To End 'Plus Size' Fashion

Body Image Heroes

Jennie Runk(01 of21)

Runk is the star of a May 2013 H&M swimwear campaign that gained widespread media attention for not relegating the gorgeous size 12 model to the "plus-size" pages of their website. In an interview with activist group SPARK, Runk told a young blogger: "I remember often feeling like I should be unhappy with my body, but it was confusing, because I never thought there was anything wrong with it until people started talking about it."In a piece for the BBC, Runk wrote of her newfound media attention: "This is exactly the kind of thing I've always wanted to accomplish, showing women that it's OK to be confident even if you're not the popular notion of 'perfect.'... There's no need to glamorise one body type and slam another." (credit:H&M)

Jennifer Lawrence(02 of21)

The famously outspoken "Hunger Games" star has been extremely vocal about resisting diet culture and pressure to be unnaturally thin. "If anybody even tries to whisper the word 'diet,' I'm like, 'You can go f*ck yourself,'" Lawrence said in an interview for the November 2013 UK issue of Harper's Bazaar. She also hit the nail on the head during a Nov. 7 Q&A with Yahoo! employees. "The world has this idea that if you don't look like an airbrushed perfect model," she said to Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer. "You have to see past it. You look how you look, you have to be comfortable. What are you going to do? Be hungry every single day to make other people happy? That's just dumb." (credit:Getty)

Nickolay Lamm(03 of21)

Lamm, an artist who works for MyDeals.com, used CDC measurements of an average 19-year-old woman to create a 3-D model which he then Photoshopped to look like a Barbie doll. His images of "normal" Barbie next to the doll sold in stores is truly worrying."If we criticize skinny models, we should at least be open to the possibility that Barbie may negatively influence young girls as well," Lamm told the Huffington Post in an email. "Furthermore, a realistically proportioned Barbie actually looks pretty good."It's awesome to see a man take a stance on these issues, especially considering that many men experience their own body struggles -- often in silence. (credit:Nickolay Lamm)

Trina Hall(04 of21)

Hall, a Dallas-based yoga instructor, abandoned all dietary restrictions between March and July of this year in order to see how her body changed when she wasn't actively limiting her eating habits -- and how people in her life reacted to her changing shape. The results of her project were not what she expected:

The people who didn't know, who were just with me in my life -- there was no difference that I could tell in the way that they treated me. The difference came in my own perceptions of myself, and I began to treat myself differently. I was very judgmental, and I would look in the mirror and critique myself... I would pick apart my body. Instead of looking at the whole of my body, I would look at different parts and analyze what's wrong with them.

"My most shocking discovery through the process is that I’m afraid of not being loved," Hall wrote in a Jul. 30 blog post. "I noticed the self-talk was that my beauty is only on the surface."The experience moved Hall to better understand the dialogue happening inside her own head, and inspired her to help other people suffering from poor body image. "I want to empower people to love their bodies... if it's going to start somewhere, it has to start within," she wrote. (credit:Trina Hall)

Shailene Woodley(05 of21)

Woodley, who was nominated for a Golden Globe for her role in "The Descendants," told Flavorwire in July:

I saw somebody -- what I thought was me -- in a magazine once, and I had big red lips that definitely did not belong on my face. I had boobs about three times the size they are in real life. My stomach was completely flat. My skin was also flawless. But the reality is that I do not have those lips and my skin is not flawless and I do have a little bit of a stomach. It was not a proper representation of who I am. I realized that, growing up and looking at magazines, I was comparing myself to images like that -- and most of it isn’t real.

Because of her discomfort with how women are constantly Photoshopped and edited on-screen, Woodley doesn't wear makeup to events. What a badass. (credit:AP)

Elena Raouna (06 of21)

Raouna, who was crowned Miss British Beauty Curve 2013, told the Daily Mail: "you don't have to be size zero to be a model, and you can be pretty and plus size at the same time." The beauty queen hopes to use her platform to inspire young women to be comfortable in their own bodies, regardless of their weight. "My confidence has grown over the years and hopefully I can inspire other plus-size girls to be confident in their own skin," she said. (credit:Elena Raouna )

Kelsey Miller(07 of21)

The Refinery29 staff writer turned to intuitive eating, a practice where you learn to listen to your body's signals and eat accordingly, to help manage her body demons -- and is chronicling her journey on the Internet via the Anti-Diet Project. "The goal here is not fast weight loss," Miller told the Huffington Post in an email. "It's about creating a healthy, neutralized relationship with food and learning how to be fit and active every day -- but still have a life." (credit:Rockie Nolan)

Sheila Pree bright(08 of21)

Pree Bright's photo series "Plastic Bodies" examines how beauty ideals affect women, especially women of color. Her striking images combine doll parts with segments of human bodies, and the discord between the two is startling. She told HuffPost in an email:

American concepts of the “perfect female body” are clearly exemplified through commercialism, portraying “image as everything” and introducing trends that many spend hundreds of dollars to imitate. It is more common than ever that women are enlarging breasts with silicone, making short hair longer with synthetic hair weaves, covering natural nails with acrylic fill-ins, or perhaps replacing natural eyes with contacts.Even on magazine covers, graphic artists are airbrushing and manipulating photographs in software programs, making the image of a small waist and clear skin flawless. As a result, the female body becomes a replica of a doll, and the essence of natural beauty in popular American culture is replaced by fantasy.

(credit:Sheila Pree Bright)

Adele(09 of21)

Adele says she tries not to worry about her body image and doesn't want to be a "skinny minnie." "The first thing to do is be happy with yourself and appreciate your body -- only then should you try to change things about yourself." (credit:Getty)

Rebel Wilson(10 of21)

The actress took to Twitter to say, "I'm not trying to be hot. I'm just trying to be a good actress and entertain people." (credit:Facebook)

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