Stop commenting on people’s bodies!
That’s what Tess Holliday would like followers to understand as she opened up about being in recovery from an eating disorder on Saturday. Taking to social media over the weekend, the curve model blamed a “culture that celebrates thinness and equates that to worth” for her recent battle with anorexia. On Twitter, she explained:
“I’m anorexic & in recovery. I’m not ashamed to say it out loud anymore. I’m the result of a culture that celebrates thinness & equates that to worth, but I get to write my own narrative now. I’m finally able to care for a body that I’ve punished my entire life & I am finally free.”
Over on Instagram, the celeb instructed her fans to stop commenting on her health and weight, as they had been doing on photos after noticing a difference in her body. The blogger wrote:
“To everyone that keeps saying ‘you’re looking healthy lately’ or ‘You are losing weight, keep it up!’ Stop.
Don’t. Comment. On. My. Weight. Or. Perceived. Health. Keep. It. To. Yourself. Thanks
”
While some may have meant well by their commentary, the 35-year-old insisted it’s never okay to chat about anybody’s perceived health because you never really know what’s actually going on. The momma of two noted:
“Yes, I’ve lost weight — I’m healing from an eating disorder & feeding my body regularly for the first time in my entire life. When you equate weight loss with ‘health’ & place value & worth on someone’s size, you are basically saying that we are more valuable now because we are smaller & perpetuating diet culture … & that’s corny as hell.”
Corny, crappy, just plain insulting — we could go on and on. But Tess also noted this kind of reaction to a person’s body is incredibly “triggering” and damaging! She continued:
“NOT here for it. For folks like me that are trying to reframe our relationships with our bodies & heal, hearing comments about weight is triggering as hell. It sets us back in our progress — and when people working on themselves see you commenting to me that way, it hurts THEM, not just me. I can take it (I shouldn’t have to, but I can) but they didn’t ask for that trauma, ok? If you can’t tell someone they look nice without making it about their size, then baby, please don’t say nuthin at all.”
Sadly, back on Twitter, the model was met with some backlash for speaking out against diet culture, with some questioning her anorexia due to her weight. Clearly they didn’t get the point of her original post. SMH.
https://www.instagram.com/p/COVvFzTHbSx/
A post shared by T E S S H????L L I D A Y (@tessholliday)
To clap back at any haters, Holliday furthered:
“Not the ‘but fat how are you anorexic’ comments. Y’all don’t know how science & body works huh. My technical diagnosis is anorexia nervosa & yes, I’m still not ashamed. I’m too damn happy for y’all to even come close to dimming my shine.”
Yas, girl!! We love that attitude!! Though it can’t be easy to maintain a “shine” as grown men hit up her feed telling her to “thank” those who commented on her weight loss because they were “saving your own life.” Wrong on so many levels, and the Gay of Thrones alum had no qualms about striking back to one user!
“I’m literally talking about being in recovery for an eating disorder and you’re saying i need to save my own life. I think the steroids have made your brain mush. get some medical help for that.. Be an example.”
But of course, the same person continued to mansplain, so the influencer ended the unwanted convo on her own terms, adding:
“My entire post is literally about taking control of my life, but thank you so much for mansplaining it to me. I truly hope that you get the help you need, because you are clearly mentally unwell. Best!!”
What’s also crazy is that a segment of her following even thought she was saying that folks should be banned from ever complimenting her looks — like they don’t know there are a million ways to share a little love with someone without potentially triggering their eating disorder. The makeup artist just wants to be praised for something other than her body — you know, like her intelligence, humor, hairstyle, even her outfit would be welcome so long as it avoided the pesky topic of size. It’s a pretty simple ask, honestly!!
Reactions to this rather contentious backlash over a well-intentioned update on health and abolishing diet culture, Perezcious readers? Sound OFF in the comments (below)!
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