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Facebook Bug Your Rights Online

Too Fat For Facebook: Photo Banned For Depicting Body In 'Undesirable Manner' (theguardian.com) 485

An anonymous reader shares a report on The Guardian: Facebook has apologized for banning a photo of a plus-sized model and telling the feminist group that posted the image that it depicts "body parts in an undesirable manner". Cherchez la Femme, an Australian group that hosts popular culture talkshows with "an unapologetically feminist angle", said Facebook rejected an advert featuring Tess Holliday, a plus-sized model wearing a bikini, telling the group it violated the company's "ad guidelines". After the group appealed against the rejection, Facebook's ad team initially defended the decision, writing that the photo failed to comply with the social networking site's "health and fitness policy". "Ads may not depict a state of health or body weight as being perfect or extremely undesirable," Facebook wrote. "Ads like these are not allowed since they make viewers feel bad about themselves. Instead, we recommend using an image of a relevant activity, such as running or riding a bike." In a statement on Monday, Facebook apologized for its original stance and said it had determined that the photo does comply with its guidelines.Facebook said that its team scans millions of ad images every week, and sometimes understandably misses out on a few.
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Too Fat For Facebook: Photo Banned For Depicting Body In 'Undesirable Manner'

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  • ...their busy schedule of banning conservatives for daring to say that they ban conservatives [heatst.com] to determine what an appropriate bikini body is...

    • by beh ( 4759 ) * on Tuesday May 24, 2016 @02:42PM (#52173055)

      It does confirm that it was the right decision to close and delete my facebook account 3 or 4 weeks after using facebook and still not seeing the point of it.

      Now seeing how busy facebook seems to become in policing what its users might want to see, good riddance Facebook... ...not nearly ruing as much having signed up here a "while" ago... ;-)

      • by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 24, 2016 @02:56PM (#52173223)

        Well I for one welcome our new bikini-clad land-whale overlords.

        • by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 24, 2016 @03:31PM (#52173555)

          I just want to be clear about what is being discussed here:

          1) The feminist group wants to show photos of half-naked obese women because it helps to "destroy" the concept of the perfect body?

          (Already, I'm completely lost. How does this work exactly? Men see a fat woman in a bikini, and start to get turned on -- thereby changing the standards of beauty? Would that work with other images too?)

          2) The feminist group wants men to stop "objectifying women" physically, so they are using a photograph of a fat woman in a bikini to help us stop thinking about women ... in terms of their physical bodies.

          (Swoooooooosh!...that was some kind of feminist logic doing a low-altitude fly-by somewhere near my head)

          • by mwvdlee ( 775178 ) on Tuesday May 24, 2016 @04:53PM (#52174407) Homepage

            It's like how I try to convince women that a being a fat, alcoholic slob is attractive by posting pictures of myself passed out naked on the street.

      • by Dins ( 2538550 ) on Tuesday May 24, 2016 @03:44PM (#52173715)

        I "deactivated" my account a couple years ago. My only regret is that I didn't follow various guides to delete it completely, or as completely as can happen. But logging back in to the account in order to delete it at this point is not something I want to do so I'm letting sleeping dogs lie.

        I hate Facebook more than is probably rational, though. Both for solid IT nerd reasons like the rest of us but also because it had a huge hand in ruining my marriage. Yes there were other issues there, but Facebook certainly didn't help.

      • It does confirm that it was the right decision to close and delete my facebook account 3 or 4 weeks after using facebook and still not seeing the point of it.

        After 3-4 weeks I'm not surprised you don't see the utility in a service that requires you to build up a large network of diverse people in order to gain the benefits.

        In other news I installed Tinder this morning. I'm still single now so I don't see the point and deleted it.

    • Did you see that picture? I nearly went blind. Why would anyone want to look at that.
      • Did you see that picture? I nearly went blind. Why would anyone want to look at that.

        Well, to be fair... The concept of beauty is widely debated now and has changed greatly over the years.

        • by GungaDan ( 195739 ) on Tuesday May 24, 2016 @03:17PM (#52173439) Homepage

          I fail to see the need to be fair to that 350+ pound beshemoth. She left 'plus sized' behind a tenth of a ton ago. If it is harmful to show young girls images of models considered too thin to be healthy, it must be equally harmful to show images of "models" that are three cupcakes away from losing a foot, or exploding their overburdened hearts. The "healthy at every size" thing is dangerous nonsense.

          • I fail to see the need to be fair to that 350+ pound beshemoth. She left 'plus sized' behind a tenth of a ton ago. If it is harmful to show young girls images of models considered too thin to be healthy, it must be equally harmful to show images of "models" that are three cupcakes away from losing a foot, or exploding their overburdened hearts. The "healthy at every size" thing is dangerous nonsense.

            So, what about "healthy" sized people that are smoking, vaping, dipping, are doing something risky and dangerous with their life that could also be teaching people it's ok to partake in these dangerous and potentially fatal activities? I personally think it's 100% insane to bungie jump, sky dive, base jump, etc just for the thrill and every one of those people are 1 mechanical failure from death. Does that mean I should be allowed to ban their pics?

            • Your analogy is off. Instead of banning skydiving pics, ban pics of junkies shooting up. That's precisely what Tess Munster is all about. "I am morbidly obese and I love it - you can be morbidly obese and love it, too!" Until that first amputation. The beetus is coming for Tess. She should not be recruiting others into her world of impending doom.

              • Your analogy is off. Instead of banning skydiving pics, ban pics of junkies shooting up.

                Incorrect. People skydiving are needlessly endangering themselves with an activity that has 0 value to me. They are the same and my analogy was correct.

                • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

                  by GungaDan ( 195739 )

                  Morbid obesity is not an activity, and it has negative (not zero) value to you and everyone else in terms of tangible societal cost (mostly in health care).

      • If you can toss her over your shoulder and carry her away she's not to big. Just saying...

        Although I'm not really into tattooed girls no matter how skinny they are.

        • If she can't toss me over her shoulder and carry me away she's not big enough.

          • My friend got his picture taken with some UFC fighters when he went to see them fight and they were so tiny compared to him. Lucy is only like 5' 10".

    • Quickie Mart (Score:5, Insightful)

      by sycodon ( 149926 ) on Tuesday May 24, 2016 @02:57PM (#52173231)

      Facebook is like a convenience store. You go there for specific and fairly basic reasons: share photos with families and friends, let them know what's going on in your life, message each other and arrange get togethers...probably 90% of what a person does on Facebook.

      But, like a convenience store, the places is polluted with hundreds of items you have no interest in and would never buy or use. And if you did actually want any of it, you sure as hell wouldn't get it from a convenience store....or Facebook.

    • ...their busy schedule of banning conservatives for daring to say that they ban conservatives [heatst.com] to determine what an appropriate bikini body is...

      They just trying to compensate by moderating conservatively as well as liberally.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by OakDragon ( 885217 )
      New Facebook motto : "No Fat Chicks"
  • by known_coward_69 ( 4151743 ) on Tuesday May 24, 2016 @02:44PM (#52173087)
    99% of us don't care
  • They also recently rejected a sponsored post by a powerlifter because it contained a tape measure as it might "invoke a negative reaction from viewers". http://imgur.com/APsVNp7 [imgur.com]
  • I don't care whether it is in any compliance of any guidelines - an overweight woman wearing a bikini is repulsive, no matter what "plus size" spin the "unapologetically feminist" organization puts on it.

    Anybody can dispute otherwise, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So sue me.
  • Yes, but the dating site ads that people are inundated with on the site with breasts photoshopped up to about 200% actual size with gravity defying physics are perfectly OK
    • I have no problem with photo shopped breasts to 200% of their size.
      I prefer small breasts, as long as fat ladies don't shrink their breasts to get my attention, all is fine.

      How a society became so ill that woman think breasts so big that you get spine issues are a "good thing" or sexy or beautiful is beyond me.

      • How a society became so ill that woman think breasts so big that you get spine issues are a "good thing" or sexy or beautiful is beyond me.

        It's called sexual dimorphism. Why do you think "society" has anything to do with it?

    • There's a basic difference between X is good (and if you are ~X, by implication you suck) and ~X is bad, and if you are ~X, fuck you.

      I think it's fine to say that ads shouldn't show fat people and advertise weight loss products. Whereas, dating sites (and many others) obviously use sex to sell.

  • by Opportunist ( 166417 ) on Tuesday May 24, 2016 @02:54PM (#52173197)

    It's a bit like a reverse Alien vs. Predator.

    Whoever loses
    We win

  • Many of the +sized model are really ++++++++++++++++sized.
    They managed to fuck up the pirelli calendar with that. :D

  • by diakka ( 2281 ) on Tuesday May 24, 2016 @03:01PM (#52173277)

    I'll bet that nobody would kick up much of a fuss if they decided to ban a photo of an anorexic model. Tess Holiday, being morbidly obese, obviously suffers from disordered eating due to a food addiction, yet is paraded around as some kind of paragon of moral virtue, while pictures of women with anorexia would be censored for being harmful to little girls. But seriously, do you think that presenting a morbidly obese woman as a socially acceptable norm sends girls a message about body image that is any less harmful?

    • by skipkent ( 1510 )

      According to the SJW crowd. losing weight makes you fatphobic: http://i.imgur.com/0v0bHs0.png [imgur.com]
      And if you're able to stand on your own then you are as healthy as anyone else: http://i.imgur.com/URsVifV.jpg [imgur.com]

      • The SJW crowd are a never ending source of comedy. I liked the recent one about huffpo's all woman editorial meeting. Comedy gold.

    • by bluefoxlucid ( 723572 ) on Tuesday May 24, 2016 @03:12PM (#52173381) Homepage Journal

      It's a complex topic (I keep saying that about things...).

      There's a fairly-curvy model out there who did a bunch of ads pushing back on fat shaming, claiming she's proud to be fat. SHE'S HAWT. Seriously. She has firm abs. She's got larger, padded, but firm thighs. She has a narrow waist, broad hips, and an overall-feminine form. She is the depiction of beauty in old Greek art. This is not a fat chick.

      That should tell you something about this whole political wargarble.

      People are going out with 600-pound land whales shaped like miniature cattle and claiming they're healthy and proud and there's nothing wrong with them. Bullshit. They're morbidly obese. "Morbidly" does not mean "I disagree with this because it hurts my little feelings"; it means "you are exposed to severe health problems."

      Fat people are unhealthy. The additional belly fat causes more heart burn, leading to esophageal cancer and bad teeth (and halitosis). They're more at-risk for diabeetus. Their hearts have to work harder, but aren't equipped to work harder--larger, more buff people have made more work for their hearts while making their hearts stronger--and so are more prone to failure. Their metabolism isn't burning all the crap away, so their blood cholesterol is more likely to clot and get stuck in odd places (coronary arteries, cranial arteries, etc., heart attacks and strokes are bad). They also smell bad--we can put smokers on that list, too.

      That's what "morbidly obese" is: you're fat to the point of serious damage to yourself.

      On top of all that, what makes a good body image is not what you think about your body; it's what society thinks about it. What *we* find attractive is what *is* attractive. There's fat-chick dudes who go riding the hog, and that's their business, and you and them can get along just fine; but when 98% of all dudes are telling you you're way too fat and not attractive, that means you're way too fat and not attractive. It's the same as if I started insisting all girls are supposed to want to have sex with me because I'm pantie-melting hot--I can keep saying it, but it's not gonna get any more true unless I start doing some serious push-ups. Stick with your fat fetish man and stop telling us all what we're supposed to think about it.

  • She has scammed her supporters numerous times the below text was taken from this link, to see the image gallery from the Reddit chain click here. [imgur.com]

    There's no doubt in my mind that you all know who Tess Holliday is. Founder of "Eff your beauty standards", plus size model, (apparent) body positivity icon.. oh, and scam artist! In November 2014 hundreds of her loyal fans purchased shirts with her "EYBS" branding emblazoned on them,also under the impression that a portion of the proceeds would be donated to a Domestic Violence charity (many fans have said that the reason they were able to justify spending $40 on a shirt is that they were glad that some of the money would to go a DV charity). Not only did hundreds of fans NEVER receive their shirts/merchandise, but not a single cent went to charity. Fans asked Holliday why they hadn't received their items yet via Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, only to be blocked by her (Tess herself has admitted that she is in control of all of her social media accounts).

    After several attemps by many disappointed fans, the Facebook group "Eff your Customer Service" began. With now 450 members, Holliday could no longer ignore the fans who had rallied against her.

    The clothing company Redress took on Holliday's EYBS merchandising responsibilities, and tried their best to reimburse customers.

    Still, many were disappointed that none of the proceeds from their purchases were going to the DV charity as they had been lead to believe. Holliday claims that the reason for this is because EYBS operated at a loss, despite doing their own packing, advertising and selling shirts at $40 each. Fans asked her why she couldn't just donate some of her own fortune to the charity to write her wrongs, however no comment was made. Holliday (whose real name is Ryann Maegan) claims to earn 6 figures, and her constant updates on her expensive lifestyle understandably angered fans who were left with no refund, no shirt, and no DV charity contribution.

    Of course, making donations to things like Amber Rose's Slutwalk is no problem!

    Holliday's scamming/thievery goes even further, as this image suggests. The identity of the person who made this comment is protected, as this Facebook group was a secret group where people could talk about their experiences with her without facing scrutiny from Holliday and her friends, who are constantly harassing anybody who speaks out about her.

    Holliday is also known as a horrible person to work with. Despite claiming to be against traditional beauty standards and standing up for body positivity, many photographers who have worked with her in the past have said that they will never choose to work with her again.

    Additionally, the plus size clothing company Torrid have severed ties with Holliday for a number of reasons.

    In a Buzzfeed video, Holliday is seen claiming to be a size 22, while complaining about the fit of a pair of size 28 Torrid shorts, despite having modelled for them in the past.

    Lastly, Holliday's general stalking-behaviour of people speaking out about her says a lot about what kind of person she is. She knows she's doing wrong, and she knows that people can tear her down if they need to.

    tl;dr, Don't hate Tess Holliday because she's fat, hate her because she's a scam artist, liar, and generally a bad person.

    Her response to this? Blame everyone but herself [refinery29.com] in the press like here in People magazine [people.com], the comments sections are particularly informative about the fact that not everything has been addressed. Any group associated with this person is enabling a scam artist.

  • Basically they have just admitted their policy is meaningless. They will bend and twist the language as needed when political pressure is applied.

    They are essentially giving up the curating and running of their own site, its mob rules now.

  • by aoism ( 996912 )
    Why is this 'news for nerds' ? It's SJW nonsense. Keep it on Tumblr please.
  • Would you want to see advertisements that included bikini girls with hairy moles, cleft palates, and lobster claw hands? How about one that's so fat she's starting to become one with the fabric of the sofa she's lived on for the past 3 years. Why not? You can be a quarter-tonner and still be healthy, all women are beautiful, right? At what point does Facebook get to state that they are not obligated to accept every ad, and some of these images are driving off more people than they're bringing in? They are a

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