Photoshop has become synonymous with beautifying photos that were incomplete without its intervention. In some cases, this is acceptable if magazines and online media get the consent of the person in the photo. But recently, a Facebook group called Project Harpoon (which has since been shut down) appeared online and drew a ton of criticism for posting photos of "plus-size" women who had become thin with the help of Photoshop. Despite the controversy, the #ThinnerBeauty movement lives on, and websites and subpages have grown on the FB site that continues its mission.
When moving ThInnerBeauty they argue that "Slimming" with Photoshop serves as form of motivation and that they give people tangible results by showing them how much more beautiful we would be, if you were to go on a strenuous weight loss diet. And while they are on Facebook pages doing it without consent and publishing the results "Photoshop diets" of famous faces (Tesse Holiday, Melissa McCarthy, Amy Schumer, etc.) as well as unknown people, they were elsewhere (e.g. Reddit, 4chan and Twitter where the movement also had to pick up awls and hooves) appeared photos that people (men and women) they send themselves in order to in their slimmer virtual version sought additional motivation to lose weight.
READ MORE: 5 TEDx talks - for sports motivation in 2015
The #ThinnerBeauty campaign has on the surface otherwise good intention, as she was supposed to fight against obesity, but there is so much controversy surrounding and under its hood that it does more harm than good. It stinks already in the head. The "flag bearers" of Harpoon say that with their photos they inspire others to lead a healthier life, and at the same time fat people are mistakenly associated with an unhealthy lifestyle and they are convinced that it is slimness is the only form of beauty.
