Insatiable Petition Reaches 100,000, Netflix Stars Deny The Fat Shaming

Insatiable is a twisted story line encouraging body negative contexts, fat shaming and encouraging a continued cycle of bullying. The trailer fetaures Debby Ryan as “Fatty Patty” whom when she looses weight after a summer becomes Queen Bee of her high school halls seeking revenge on those who bullied her before. 

Who here has picked up that something isn’t right in this story line? Or the fact that this plot line of loosing weight to become the school hottie is one concept that should never have returned from the 80s Degrassi episode it emerged from. 

Clearly the show encourages a fat shaming and bullying culture that in recent times we have strived so hard to overcome. What is even worse in this case is that a Disney Star is the lead actress whom denies that the show is encouraging toxicity in our society. 

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— debbyryan (@DebbyRyan) 21. Juli 2018

You may have heard of fat shaming before. Simply it is shaming or making another individual uncomfortable and hurt solely based on the way their body is formed. Regardless of the percentage of fat that a persons body holds, it is simply no ones business. This idea leads on to the body positivity a whole umbrella term for accepting the aspects of our bodies we can’t change. We aren’t all born with the ability to be VS model thin, or the body frame of Kate Moss. Our body composition is largely down to genetics, something we have no control over. 

The body positive movement has come under a lot of fire in the media. At one extreme the body positive movement is viewed as “Fit Shaming” those who exercise regularly to maintain a slender and fit frame. Evidence for this comes in the form Instagram and Social Media comments left on models or clothing campaigns as models being too thin or “disgustingly thin”. On the other extreme it is viewed as “Fat Shaming” by encouraging a more slender frame through diet as exercise and stating those who are not slender do not love their bodies. As with all movements there are many misconceptions of their goals. 

In the case of Insatiable, the program is not positively encouraging younger audiences to engage in an active lifestyle to be healthier, it is encouraging weight loss to end bullying to the person and give them the power to take revenge and in turn become the bully. 

Understandably, the shows creator Lauren Gussis reflects on her own life as a teenager in high school being bullied for aspects out of her control. Yes we have all fantasized about taking our revenge one day on the people who made high school for us hell. But we don’t showcase it on impressionable teenagers, the main target audience for the show. Revenge and the continuation of bullying is wasted energy. High school is high school and what we need to encourage is that it is merely a few years of ones life. High school, contrary to popular belief, does not make or break or define a persons life. 

While lead actors are defending the show and the plot line, explaining it is a comedic cautionary tale of consequences of bullying, the show could have taken a different approach. 

The best revenge on high school bullies is to live your best life. Popularity contests in high school are overrated, being bullied in high school is not ok and should never be encouraged. What should be encouraged is to end the cycle. One thing to remember is we all have demons we fight every day. So does the popular crowd in high school, no one walking this earth is perfect. What you are bullied about is another persons short comings they see in themselves and project on you. By no means do we suggest not defending yourself. What we do suggest is to live your life on your terms and if you loose weight do it for you not for popularity. 

We considered all angles of the debate whether or not Netflix should shut this down. And we agree with the petition. We need to change the narrative. We need to end these cycles of toxicity. We need shows to build up our young and impressionable instead of play the same old 80’s satire. 

Sign the petition here. 

We need to talk about suicide. One consequence of high school bullying that needs to be stopped.