Anna Faris sparks concern amongst fans after photo emerges of her looking 'skinny'

It's a sad fact that celebrities are under more and more scrutiny to look and act perfectly at all times. Not only do they have to avoid putting their foot in the mouth or causing any kind of controversial faux pas, they're also expected to have flawless good looks from dawn till dusk. Male actors are supposed to look ruggedly handsome and devil-may-care, while actresses are meant to be stylish, slim and athletic, and God forbid that they have even so much as a hair out of place or decide to forgo makeup for the afternoon.

Unfortunately, female celebrities are often held to a much higher standard than their male counterparts when it comes to looking good. The sorts of things that men would be able to do with impunity are big no-nos for women, and on the internet, there are plenty of body shaming trolls who are only too happy to judge and cruelly abuse anyone who doesn't meet their ridiculous criteria.

One person who has suffered as a result of this sexist societal attitude is former Scary Movie star Anna Faris, who was forced to delete an Instagram post after online commenters accused her of being seriously underweight, and made harsh comments about her appearance.

The trouble began when the actress uploaded a photo of herself to social media. In the image in question, Faris was half-dressed in a black top, underwear and boots, with her head over a garbage bin. The pic was captioned: "Having pre-show jitters — so glad Michael Sherman captured it — also I eventually decided to put on pants."

Body-shamers soon jumped on the post, and the actress subsequently decided deleted it after just 15 minutes. One person wrote: "You look so unhealthy, eat," while another added: "This is alarming! I feel this pic is a cry for help, I hope you get the help you need."

However, some other social media users were a lot more supportive of Faris. One Twitter-user wrote "The people saying that Anna Faris is too skinny, looks unhealthy and needs to eat are the same people that try telling us Tess Holliday is perfectly healthy, and scorn anybody for saying otherwise," while another added: "You are beautiful at any size. Health is our concern. If you’re healthy and happy that’s all that matters! Continue to be awesome!"

Faris has recently split from her husband, Guardians of the Galaxy star Chris Pratt, which has prompted some people to question if her sudden weight loss is related to stress brought on through the breakup. However, since October 2017 Faris started dating cinematographer Michael Barrett, so it's clear that she's not pining after Pratt, and they're apparently still on amicable terms, raising their son Jack together equally.

Maybe Anna has lost a few pounds recently, or maybe this is just a dodgy picture. Who knows? At the end of the day though, shaming someone into taking a picture down simply isn't cool no matter how you frame it.