Gym accused of fat-shaming after implying plus-sized people feel 'worthless'

The post has been criticised for endorsing female body anxieties

(Getty Images)

A gym in Australia has been criticised online after sharing a transformation photo of one of its clients, who went from a UK size 16 to an 8, implying that she was “unfit, unattractive, self-conscious and worthless” in the "before" image.

HTFU Fitness - which stands for “Harden The Fat Up - posted the image on its social media profiles on Sunday and was quickly inundated with comments from users accusing the Adelaide-based gym of “fat-shaming”.

“Let me guess ladies,” the gym's original post begins, “You feel unfit, unattractive, self-conscious and worthless... especially when standing in front of the mirror naked.

“You feel embarrassed and ashamed getting naked in front of your partner...you are sick and tired of picking outfits that hide fat... and you want to feel comfortable in your own skin.

“But there's a problem... you are too afraid to join a gym because you're too embarrassed, ashamed, self conscious and worried about being judged and most of all, you're just too nervous to commit.”

The post continues to urge followers to sign up to the gym's three week transformation programme.

Social media users were quick to voice their concerns, with some suggesting in the comments that the gym “fire” its marketing team.

The gym’s intention was to build its client list and motivate followers to use its facilities.

Despite the criticisms, it evidently stands by its message, writing a follow-up post in response to aggrieved commenters claiming that they "make no apologies".

“So deplorable,” wrote one person on Facebook.

“Talk about reinforcing the worst way of looking at a woman's body. Gross.”

“Worthless? Ashamed? Unattractive? What a disgusting way to advertise to women. You should be ashamed,” added another.

Others accused the gym of endorsing outdated gender stereotypes regarding body insecurities by addressing its post exclusively to women.

“Believe it or not, some women (and I know many) already ‘feel comfortable’ in their own skin,and wear their ‘favourite outfits, feel fit, confident, attractive & sexy,’ responded one person.

“They don't feel the need to ‘hide their fat’. And their size and shape look nothing like the fitness and glamour models which you probably want them to aspire to. You lose your audience when you insult them. Fact.”

Despite the influx of critical comments, the gym has not deleted the post and responded by revealing that it has had four new clients enrol in its 21-day transformation programme as a direct result of the post.

However, they did decide to change the wording of the first line, writing:

“The only thing we would change is the first paragraph as we should have said ‘some of you feel…’ as not all women feel this way.

“Apart from that we make no apologies, as if you read it properly with an open mind you will see we’re stating the truth on how ‘some’ women feel about themselves at the moment, how they want to feel & what they know they need to do to feel better.”