On September 16th, 2013, I sent the following message to facebook.
Hello, I received a message this morning about my facebook page (The Thigh Gap Hack) being removed from facebook I was told it was because it promotes eating disorders. I am outraged that my site would be wiped out without any true investigation into this claim. Nothing on my page ever mentioned anything about an eating disorder and nothing in my book does anything of the sort. I promote advanced exercise/diet tricks used by bodybuilders and athletes to lose stubborn body fat on the thighs.
The night before, I had received – yet again – another string of facebook messages from a trollish bully who threatened she would rally her entire network on twitter and every other social media site to shut down my page of almost 4000 fans.
The reason?
This particular troll, thought my page and book PROMOTED an eating disorder just by way of having the words ‘thigh gap’ in the title! Sadly, messages like hers was commonplace, as many women seem to think they have the right to police other women’s fitness goals.
Now, it should be stated that there had never been a post on my page promoting anyone to starve/binge/purge to get a thigh gap. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Also, nowhere in my 250 page book had I ever mentioned such things. I used my platform to inform girls and women that there was an alternative way to achieving one’s goal of thinning the thighs.
So, you can imagine my surprise when Facebook pulled my page, without giving me a chance to respond or defend myself. It seemed particularly rash – like I was being charged guilty until proven innocent. Furthermore, when I asked facebook to provide proof of my page promoting an eating disorder, all I heard was crickets!
Their silence meant that someone at facebook had deemed a page talking about thigh gaps as a goal automatically was bad and wrong; that any girl looking up ‘how to get a thigh gap’ was one click away from an eating disorder; and they simply weren’t going to have it! Yet, suspiciously, they still allowed me to run ads on their network informing people of the book.
I was at a loss, and reached out to you all to rally against the injustice that was happening, and hundreds of you answered the call – I know because I asked you to CC me in the e-mails. You sent e-mails like:
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Dear Facebook Moderators,
I couldn’t help but notice that you removed several pages from facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/the-thigh-gap-hack/223585084443899) concerning the book “The Thigh Gap Hack”. Whilst I know that eating disorders are at an all time high, I can assure you that this book is in no way, shape, or form a promotion for eating disorders.
The book tells you of many workouts that you may not have otherwise know to TRIM DOWN your thighs as opposed to squats and leg lifts which, ultimately, just make them bigger. “The Thigh Gap Hack” it a user friendly instruction manual to achieving the thigh gap every girl wants WITHOUT STARVING THEMSELVES TO DEATH! Though, I am glad you are on the move to taking down all pro-eating disorder pages, this particular one is NOT one of those pages. I’ve bought this book and read it, and I’m very upset you just assume that because it contains the word “thigh gap”, you automatically assume it’s coaching eating disorders.
Last I heard, you should love yourself no matter what your shape. To say that all girls with a thigh gap MUST have an eating disorder is just as bad as saying all fat people MUST love cake. It’s stereotypical and cruel. Now, if you would please, restore the pages that you removed. Next time, read the book before you make assumptions. Thank you very much. Sincerely, Erin
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Today, I am happy to report that The Thigh Gap Hack page has been reinstated!
I want to thank you all for your messages of support to facebook and to me. You have made ‘The Thigh Gap Hack’ a success, and brought the fan page back from the dead. I look forward to chatting and connecting with you all for years to come!
Camille 🙂
I am a pear shaped woman whose struggled with lower body fat all my teen and adult life. The author of the ThighGapHack book targets this issue for those women seeking a more proportional body physique. She helps us pear shaped women to understand more clearly why it is when we do certain exercises and healthy diets our upper bodies transform yet the lower half almost remains unchanged. She is correct in her studies and clearly has done her research! I yes am trying to achieve slimmer thighs and hips. I believe I can with her healthy advice. Perhaps there are women who do not want to achieve this just as there are men who’d like to skip six pack abs right? The author brings focus to wholistic eating fruits veggies and unprocessed meats. Is that what we call an eating disorder? Then perhaps marathon runners, weight trainers and gymnasts should also be looked as having one as they condition their bodies far outside the norm. It’s kind of ridiculous. I feel sorry for those who have judged this book incorrectly. Perhaps they should begin within and take a look at themselves emotionally and physically. Willing to bet they lack the drive and hard work it takes to EAT healthy and EXERCISE MODERATLEY.
Yay! congratulations Camille. It’s about damn time. I can’t believe they even took the page down in the first place. I’m glad our emails were able to make a difference. I am sick and tired of overweight women feeling the need to tell me that I am skinny enough or shouldn’t want a thigh gap. I’m not going to their fat love sites and trying to convince them to lose some weight, so they should just remain on their side of the internet