Alexa Moreno recently found herself the subject of a whole lot of fat-shaming on social media. Normally, that would be no surprise since, sadly, there’s tons of fat-shaming on social media every day (ask any fat activist), but this was a bit different, in that Alexa weighs 99 pounds — and is a gymnast who had just finished competing in the freaking Olympics.
In my piece for Ravishly I talk about how fatphobia can affect people of all sizes (though, of course, thin privilege is a real thing,) how it’s often rooted in misogyny, the issues with some of the well-meaning but messed responses as to why she shouldn’t have been fat shamed, and how instances like this show just how flimsy the excuses cyberbullies use to try to justify their bullying and bad behavior really are. You can check it out here:
http://www.ravishly.com/2016/08/17/fat-shaming-should-not-be-olympic-sport?
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Beautifully written as usual! Thank you for your insights.
From article: We are told that they fat-shame to help encourage weight loss, and that if fat people just lose weight they will leave us alone…
Alrighty then, I get to ass-shame to encourage these a$$holes to stop their bullying behavior.
Seems fair to me.
Shaming people for shameful behavior is good.
Shaming people for their bodies is bad (and I include mental illness in there, because the brain is a part of the body).
Actions are things that are under our control, and yes, we can and should call out bad actions.
So, I fully support your ass-shaming campaign.
Right on point! Excellent article, Ragen!