I'm quite active on Instagram, and I love that we can use it as a tool for body positive activism. Women donning crop tops and fatkinis make me feel warm and fuzzy inside. They are freeing themselves from our diet culture and thin-centric society by being bold and unabashed about their rolls, stretchmarks and cellulite! I use emoticons and encouraging words to support them on their journeys toward self-love.
And on occasion, I post selfies in solidarity.
Today I posted this picture of myself with the hashtag #bellyrealness created by Michelle of Zaftig Times.
And most of the comments were uplifting and full of love. But, the Instagram trolls always seem to try and shame us out of our self-acceptance. Below are some examples of the comments I've received.
So, how do we stay positive when folks like these want to shut us down? You post this instead:
.PNG)
.PNG)
When I first starting getting these kinds of comments, I was so upset. I couldn't understand why anyone would want to be so hurtful. But I realized it's not about me. It's about them. It's about the self-hate they haven't dealt with. It's about having too much free time on their hands. It's about hiding behind the veil of Instagram so they don't have to actually dialogue with anyone. More often than not, I now have compassion for these broken souls. Most of them have only a handful of followers (who are equally lost) and I always report and block them because I don't tolerate hate.
And then, I move on to bigger and better things. Pun intended.
In solidarity,
Pia
And on occasion, I post selfies in solidarity.
Today I posted this picture of myself with the hashtag #bellyrealness created by Michelle of Zaftig Times.
And most of the comments were uplifting and full of love. But, the Instagram trolls always seem to try and shame us out of our self-acceptance. Below are some examples of the comments I've received.
So, how do we stay positive when folks like these want to shut us down? You post this instead:
.PNG)
.PNG)
When I first starting getting these kinds of comments, I was so upset. I couldn't understand why anyone would want to be so hurtful. But I realized it's not about me. It's about them. It's about the self-hate they haven't dealt with. It's about having too much free time on their hands. It's about hiding behind the veil of Instagram so they don't have to actually dialogue with anyone. More often than not, I now have compassion for these broken souls. Most of them have only a handful of followers (who are equally lost) and I always report and block them because I don't tolerate hate.
And then, I move on to bigger and better things. Pun intended.
In solidarity,
Pia
BRAVO! I tell people that exact thing all the time!
ReplyDeleteIt is not about you. These are sad, miserable people who think that they validate themselves somehow with their vitriol.
I was one of the pics used in the buzzfeed article but no one has come at me and if they are smart, they wont because well, lets just say that I am not as generous as you are.
LOL
But kudos to you
Great blog post! Words hurt and it's unfortunate that people hide behind their computer and cell phone screens to be so mean. But you still look fabulous! Shoutout for you for loving the skin you're in! I wish you much success on your blogging journey :)
ReplyDelete-Ali
www.alifashionsense.blogspot.com
Yes to this! Absolutely! Don't feed the trolls. You are gorgeous and inspirational!
ReplyDeleteGREAT article! Pretty sick of all the different kinds of shaming there are on the internet. Geeze. You're beautiful! Keep up the great posts. New follower!
ReplyDelete