A petition calling for Netflix to pull their controversial upcoming series ‘Insatiable’ has so far acquired 90,000 signatures.
Last week, a trailer for ‘Insatiable’ debuted and immediately faced a backlash, with many feeling the premise of the show enforced fat-shaming, due to the fact its lead character is initially bullied for her size, but becomes desirable to her schoolmates after losing weight.
The controversy caused two members of the cast to speak out in defence of the show, but their explanations clearly weren’t enough for many critics, with a Change.org petition calling for the show to be cancelled altogether.
Florence Given, who organised the petition, wrote: “The toxicity of this series, is bigger than just this one particular series.
“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. It 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.”
She also suggested the show could “cause eating disorders”, trigger those with existing disorders and “perpetuate the further objectification of women’s bodies”.
At the time of writing, more than 90,000 people have put their names on the petition, with a target of 150,000.
A representative for Netflix had no comment when approached by HuffPost UK.
The full first series of ‘Insatiable’ is slated to begin streaming on Netflix on 10 August. Watch the divisive trailer below: