More than 100,000 people have signed a petition calling for Netflix to cancel the release of its new comedy-drama Insatiable over claims that it engages in “fat-shaming”.

The series, which stars actor and singer Debby Ryan, has been the subject of criticism on social media since the release of a trailer earlier this month. Ryan plays Patty, an overweight student who undergoes a dramatic transformation and takes vengeance on the students who bullied her over her size.

In the trailer, an overweight Ryan (wearing a prosthetic fat suit) is seen being insulted by classmates. She is later punched in the face, and has to have her jaw wired shut,which causes her to lose weight – and become newly popular among her peers.

The petition, which was posted on the activism website Change.org, argues that the show perpetuates “not only the toxicity of diet culture, but the objectification of women’s bodies”.

“The toxicity of this series is bigger than just this one particular series,” Florence Given, who started the petition, wrote. “This is not an isolated case, but part of a much larger problem that I can promise you every single woman has faced in her life: sitting somewhere on the scale of valuing their worth on their bodies, to be desirable objects for the male gaze. That is exactly what this series does.”

“This series needs to be cancelled. The damage-control of releasing this series will be far worse, insidious and sinister for teenage girls, than it will be damaging for Netflix in [its] loss of profit,” Given said.

There has been an outpouring of support for Given’s campaign on social media, with the actor and presenter Jameela Jamil tweeting that the show is “telling kids to lose weight to ‘win’”, and that “the fat-shaming is inherent and pretty upsetting”.

Another critic on Twitter said the show was “disgusting”, and argued the plot “endorses changing who you are, not eating ‘to be pretty’, and is just another story insinuating plus-sized people should lose weight to fit in”.

Dana Suchow, a former bulimia sufferer and founder of body positivity project #MyBodyStory, posted seven reasons why the show should be cancelled, including that “physical violence is not an ok response to bullying” and that “saying that only a thin teenager is strong, confident and capable is fatphobic”.

Speaking to the Guardian, Given said she had found the response to her campaign “overwhelming and heart-breaking”, particularly in seeing notes attached to the signatures “from the mothers of children who have eating disorders, doctors, and dieticians, all begging for the show to be cancelled”.

Members of Insatiable’s cast and crew have defended the show on Twitter. Creator Lauren Gussis said it was based on her own experiences as a teenager. “We are not shaming Patty. We are addressing (through comedy) the damage that occurs from fat-shaming,” Alyssa Milano, who appears in the show, added.

In response, Given emphasised the importance of comedy as a personal coping mechanism, but argued that “you can’t use it publicly and broadcast it for millions of viewers to see, when not every fat woman is going to be able to laugh at this with you, because unfortunately, they still face fat-phobia every single day.”

Netflix has not yet commented on the campaign. Insatiable is due to be released on Netflix on 10 August.