Imogen Kerr is a model and doula in Los Angeles, who was once rumored to be dating Robert Pattinson. She's got a lot going for her, but even successful models are sometimes subject to blatant body-shaming.
In a conversation with Shape, Kerr detailed a time when a man who was supposed to be her friend insulted her body in front of strangers at a housewarming party. "He was telling this stranger how wonderful and amazing I was, and then out of the blue said, 'Imogen would be perfect if it wasn't for her body,'" she told Shape.
In his head, Kerr said, he thought he was complimenting her. But really, he was not only saying that her body isn't good enough — just because he isn't attracted to her — but also tying her worth to how she looks. While she wanted to stand up for herself, Kerr said she felt too embarrassed and let his comments go at first.
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"I felt personally attacked in front of a stranger by someone who was supposed to be my friend," she told Shape.
But his words continued to nag at her over the next few days, until she finally texted him to let him know that what he said was not OK. "Women's bodies are not fair game," she wrote in the text. "We still live in a world where women and their worth is almost entirely placed on our bodies. And by saying what you said, you are just a moving wheel in that operation."
Although the friend said that he was sorry, he also tried to blame his words on his being drunk, which really shouldn't make a difference. Whether or not he had been drinking, he still told her that her body isn't good enough and that kind of talk is damaging.
"He was saying out loud the words which I fight so hard to rid my mind of every day, 'I would be perfect if it wasn't for my big body,'" Kerr told Shape.
In case it needs to be said, neither Kerr nor anyone else is perfect despite her body. She's perfect, beautiful, sexy, and a bunch of other positive descriptors, full stop — big body included.
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