Eugenia Cooney Photos: Viral Petition Calls On YouTube To Ban Popular Vlogger For Being Too Skinny

Eugenia Cooney has generated controversy with her photos and YouTube videos showing off her rail-thin frame, and now close to 18,000 people have signed a petition calling on YouTube to ban the popular vlogger for setting a bad example to young fans.

Cooney is a popular vlogger on the site, posting personal videos and beauty product reviews to her nearly 900,000 subscribers. But she has also attracted controversy for what critics say is her dangerously skinny frame, which led to a new Change.org petition calling on YouTube to temporarily ban her.

The petition noted that Eugenia Cooney purposely flaunts her thin frame on YouTube and in photos, which could have a very harmful effect on her mostly young fans.

The petition did not necessarily fault Cooney but said her presence on YouTube is dangerous to the young girls who watch the videos.

“She may not be intentionally influencing her viewers, but showing more than 50% of her body in her videos and pictures are not helping girls with Anorexia or any eating disorder.

“Her audience on YouTube & YouNow ranges from 12-21 years of age. Being her age audience is in these guidelines, 13-19 years of age is the common peaking age of developing an eating disorder. She has been doing nothing to get help. A lot of her audience are young females and some have already battled Anorexia and other eating disorders, Eugenia is setting a bad example for her fellow followers, fans, and friends.”

It went on to ask YouTube to temporarily ban Cooney until she can seek help for her perceived eating disorder. So far, the petition has generated close to 18,000 signatures, moving quickly toward its goal of 25,000.

Some experts on eating disorders agree with the argument, saying the videos and pictures of Eugenia Cooney may be leaving a dangerous impression with young fans. Erin Hillard, the program manager of the University of Notre Dame’s Body Image and Eating Disorder Lab, told Yahoo News that many of Cooney’s fans may seek to emulate her, even if that isn’t Cooney’s intention.

Hillard went on to say that media images have a strong influence on the eating behaviors of young girls and can affect the way they view their own bodies. She said the concerns over Eugenia Cooney’s photos and videos are legitimate and believes that viewing the vlogger’s channel could have a negative impact on girls already struggling with eating disorders.

“The life of a YouTube celebrity is often presented as very glamorous and fabulous, and young girls may look up to that and think that Eugenia’s appearance is something they should be striving for to achieve her level of success,” Hillard said.

Eugenia Cooney has responded to the petition, saying in a recent YouTube video that she is hurt by the efforts to shut down her page.

“I just don’t really feel like that’s ever really a good thing to do to people, guys,” she said. “If anything, the whole situation has been kind of upsetting. I’m doing OK, because I’m used to getting hate on the internet. Seeing a lot of dislikes, I just really feel like that’s not going to make anyone feel good.”

Eugenia Cooney has been dealing with backlash for her weight for as long as she’s been in the spotlight. Many of her YouTube videos and Instagram photos are covered with comments about her weight, with commenters calling on her to gain weight and sometimes outright mocking her.

It doesn’t appear that the controversy and the petition to ban her from YouTube are doing much to slow down Eugenia Cooney. She has continued to post photos on Instagram and upload videos to YouTube, even as the criticism of her weight mounts.

[Featured Image by Eugenia Cooney/Instagram]