Netflix Users Petition to Stop Release of 'Body-Shaming' Show 'Insatiable'

More than 100,000 people have signed an online petition calling for Netflix to stop the release of [...]

By Libby Birk

More than 100,000 people have signed an online petition calling for Netflix to stop the release of its new comedy-drama Insatiable over claims that the show is "fat-shaming."

The upcoming series, slated for release on Aug. 10, stars actor and singer Debby Ryan as Patty, an overweight student who undergoes a weight loss transformation and takes vengeance on the students who once bullied her about her size.

In a trailer released earlier this month that started the controversy, Ryan, wearing a prosthetic fat suit, can be seen being insulted by her classmates. She's punched in the face and has to have her jaw wired shut — which causes her to lose weight, making her popular with her peers.

The petition, shared on the activism site Change.org, argues that the show perpetuates "not only the toxicity of diet culture, but the objectification of women's bodies."

"This series needs to be cancelled. The damage control of releasing this series will be far worse, insidious and sinister for teenage girls, than it will be damaging for Netflix in their loss of profit," the petition, written by Florence Given, reads.

It continues, "This series will cause eating disorders, and perpetuate the further objectification of women's bodies. The trailer has already triggered people with eating disorders. Let's stop this, and protect further damage."

"The toxicity of this series is bigger than just this one particular series," it says. "This is not an isolated case, but part of a much larger problem that I can promise you every single woman has faced in her life: sitting somewhere on the scale of valuing their worth on their bodies, to be desirable objects for the male gaze. That is exactly what this series does."

At press time, the petition had garnered over 110,000 signatures and was aiming for 150,000.

In response to initial backlash on Twitter when the show's trailer was released earlier this month, Ryan posted a statement saying she "cares deeply about the way our bodies, especially women's, are shamed and policed in society," adding that she chose to work on Insatiable because the series addressed such issues "through satire." Ryan asked viewers to wait and watch the show before passing judgment.

The show's writer, Lauren Gussis, also spoke out, hinting that Patty was based on herself and saying that she was trying to share her story and insecurities through humor on the show.

"The show is a cautionary tale about how damaging it can be to believe the outsides are more important - to judge without going deeper. Please give the show a chance," she wrote.

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