A Plus-Size Model Took Down Body-Shaming Place Seatmate

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Natalie Hage is a gorgeous model and admin of the groundbreaking Instagram channel effyourbeautystandards. Recently, she was flown out for a photo shoot on American Airlines, where she had to deal with a seriously awful seatmate who body-shamed her, and her takedown of his behaviour is the stuff of legends.

The man sitting next to her was texting an unknown recipient before takeoff. Natalie could see the text messages (looking at her Instagram post below, this guy wasn't exactly subtle) where he was insulting her body. After the plane lands, she decides to confront him and films the experience. "I couldn't help but notice before we took off you were sending really horrible text messages about me," she says. After initially getting defensive and saying, "I'm sorry, I was drinking," he immediately apologises. Honestly, though, it sounds like the kind of apology meant to shut down the confrontation. There was no honest self-reflection or empathy.

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A post shared by natalie. (@nataliemeansnice) on Apr 20, 2017 at 2:55pm PDT

The man then condescends to her further by implying that her body should prevent her from sitting in the exit row. "When they ask if you're willing and capable to assist people in getting off the airplane in an emergency, do you honestly think you are?" he asks her.

Natalie, exhibiting a remarkable display of composure, tells him that she works out five times per week and that he knows nothing about her body. "My body is none of your business," she says, and "don't ever treat anyone like that again." With that, she gets up to walk off the plane, where he has the gall to ask her out to dinner. Truly the absolute worst.

Let's note that his flimsy excuse isn't really an excuse for his behaviour at all. Plenty of people imbibe at the airport bars before a flight and manage to not body-shame other passengers. And yes, flying sucks for all of us, but that is also still not an excuse to humiliate another human being. Natalie held her poise in this appalling situation, but we look forward to a day where she wouldn't have to deal with this in the first place.

i'm shaking right now. i'm on a flight to LA right now on @americanair. i paid almost $70 extra for this seat i'm in because i know i need a little extra leg room. i'm extremely flight anxious but there were only middle seats available so i had to take what i could get. as soon as i sat down, the gentleman on my left began LOUDLY huffing, sighing, and readjusting himself in his seat. i see him furiously texting and then purposefully turning the phone away from me. so, naturally next time he texts, i take a look. the texts were about me and i'm almost positive he took photos of me. not only were the texts about me, but they were really mean and ugly, with even the recipient named 'linda' chiming back with shaming retorts...someone who can't even see the situation. if you can't read the texts, it says 'hopefully she didn't have any mexican food' and his response is 'i think she ate a mexican'. then he proceeds to say he's leaving a 'neck mark on the window' because he's so smashed against the wall. from the photos, you can see i'm not in his space. he's even taken over both arm rests on purpose, coming to my space and digging his elbows into my side...which is in my seat. his next text to her was 'if the news reports a DFW airbus a321 leaving the runway without rotating, that would be my flight.' another i see later? 'if these seats don't hold, it's not going to matter.' and that's just a few of them. there were several more. i didn't do anything to him. i'm in my seat, completely (see photos). i am crumpled into a ball trying to not bother. i'm just so upset. i asked the other man to my right if he'd switch me and told him what the man was saying about me and he said laughed and refused. that's fine, it's not his issue. this is a fat person's daily reality and not just on a plane. this is on a bus, standing in line at the grocery store, at a concert, on the internet. you can be completely in your own space, not bothering anyone, and people will still fuck with you and try to hurt you. all you can do is know you haven't done anything wrong just by existing and to move on. this just makes me a mixture of enraged and super sad.

A post shared by natalie. (@nataliemeansnice) on Jun 29, 2017 at 9:55am PDT

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