Last week, Jenny Rushmore, a seamstress who blogs at Cashmerette, received some unsolicited advice from a man on the internet. Rushmore, who's originally from Scotland but now lives, blogs, and sews in Boston, discovered a comment on her Instagram feed from "a guy in his early 20s, who really, REALLY, loves gym selfies." His helpful suggestion? To get her body "swimsuit-ready," she should "eat less cake." Rushmore, a self-described lover of both cake and her beach body, called out the commenter last week in another Instagram photo, then jokingly hashtagged it #CakeWithCashmerette. Since then, over three hundred women have used the hashtag to post their own selfies (complete with cake) in solidarity with Rushmore.
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Though the commenter who sparked the hashtag was bluntly mean, Rushmore told us over email that she also faces "concern trolls" — those who mask their negative comments by worrying about Rushmore's well-being:
Many commenters on articles about #CakeWithCashmerette have expressed "concern" about my health and the impact I'm having on the health system. They have no idea about my diet, blood work, or the fact I cycled 350 miles across Asia last year. But the real point is that it's irrelevant: You can't tell someone's health by looking at them, you can be healthy at almost any size, and regardless, my health is my business, not yours.
Fellow #CakeWithCashmerette posters seem to echo Rushmore's feelings, with one women commenting "Regardless of the health aspect, no one has the right to tell anyone what they should or shouldn't eat, unless they've been asked for their opinion."
To any woman who avoids putting photos of herself online for fear of nasty comments, Rushmore has a piece of advice: "For every one troll there are hundreds or thousands of people cheering you on, so I say go for it! And if you do get trolled, either ignore it or fight back with positivity and humor. "