This week in The Internet Is A Savage Place, people on Twitter are fat-shaming a model from Miley Cyrus’s "Mother’s Daughter" music video. In the first verse of Cyrus’s song, the video flashes to a red background with the words “You are f****** Beautiful” and then shows actress, activist, and model Angelina Duplisea lying naked on a couch while fanning herself. The entire Cyrus video celebrates body positivity and shows women and gender non-confirming people of all shapes, sizes, and forms.
But some Twitter users made concern-trolling comments about Cyrus’s choice to include Duplisea, claiming that it’s promoting an unhealthy lifestyle.
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Concern-trolling and fat-shaming are a huge problem in our society, and it’s important to remember that you can’t just look at a person, and tell if they’re healthy. (Plus, these types of comments are just rude, and entirely unnecessary.) Size and weight are not indicative of someone's health, as Rebecca Puhl, PhD, deputy director for the Rudd Centre for Food Policy & Obesity and professor in the department of human development and family studies at UConn, previously told Refinery29. But the story is bigger than health. When the video was released, Duplisea wrote an Instagram post about why it’s important to show depictions of people who are plus-sized in the media.
“Fat acceptance is based on the notion that all fat people, regardless of health, deserve respect,” Duplisea wrote. “And it's a battle that is fought every day by thousands, including myself. Social media's accessibility allows us to peek in on others living their lives, but too often the conversation turns negative when there are fat bodies involved. People just love to leave awful comments on fat folks photos in order to feel superior and I promise you, not one of these commenters actually cares about the health, family, environment or whatever bullshit reason they give for their vile behaviour towards a fat person.”
In the post she asked people to do better, think kinder, and be more accepting.
“We humans have a lot to learn, but we can start by fighting our personal biases and permitting people of all genders, races, sexualities, sizes, abilities and health levels to live harassment-free lives," she wrote. "Don't fuck with their freedom to feel happy and beautiful right now, not just when society says it's ok."
Take this as a friendly reminder to think and consider the feelings of others before taking to social media.