'Appalling' Facebook page slims down plus-size stars

Herald online

20 Aug, 2015 10:25 PM3 mins to read

An image of plus sized model Tess Holliday featured on the page. Photo / Facebook Project Harpoon

Under the guise of "public service", a fat-shaming Facebook page is photoshopping famous plus-sized models to make them look thinner.

Project Harpoon, born out of the notorious 4chan forums, takes images of plus sized women - including some well-known models - and digitally alters them to appear thinner.

The altered image is then posted side-by-side with the original, as a theoretical "after" picture - using the hashtags #SkinnyAcceptance and #thINNERBEAUTY. Followers are asked to comment on which image looks better.

The description of the page claims it is a "collaborative art project open to interpretation".

While it has been called a fat-shaming site, the people behind the page claim they are trying to expose the concept of "fat acceptance" while promoting skinnier bodies as "healthy".

"Fat Acceptance lies exist to keep you fat so people who are overweight don't feel bad because they have company. That's ALL they are for," a post on the page reads.

Pictures are posted without permission and some famous women. Plus-sized model Tess Halliday, singer Meghan Trainor and actor Melissa McCarthy have featured on the page.

"Meghan Trainor might be a lot more popular if she was what the industry wanted her to be!" the administrator of the page captioned an image of the Grammy-nominated singer.

The page has over 9000 likes, but many Facebook users have posted their disgust with the images in the comments.

"You must really hate something about yourselves to degrade and fat shame women you know nothing about. Incredibly pathetic," one person wrote.

Jen McQuaile, the director of Straight/Curve, a documentary about plus-size models, told the Daily Mail she was horrified to see some of the models from her film featured on the page.

"I cannot believe somebody would stoop so low as to disfigure some of the most beautiful women in the world," she said.

"It is utterly appalling on so many levels. It is a personal attack on these women - who are some of the most famous plus-size models in the world. This is a blatant manipulation of their image and personal bodies."

While the page overwhelmingly features images of women, there have also been some pictures of men posted.

Project Harpoon may seem like one of the worst things on the internet right now - but given its roots on 4chan, it's likely an act of trolling, designed to offend.