Plus size model Tess Holliday claps back at people who troll her workout routine
Take a gander through your social media feeds and you'll be affronted with a slew of perfectly retouched gazelles - also known as Instagram "models". In almost all instances, these women not only conform to western ideals of beauty, but they also share the same body type - petite, with curves in all the "right" places - and absolutely no trace of cellulite.
To say that this doesn't exactly champion diversity is, of course, an understatement.
However, in the past few years, we've seen more and more advocates of body positivity on social media, who are dedicated to showcasing how women can be beautiful at any shape and size. One such individual is Tess Holliday.
Tess recently took to social media to post three videos of her working out, and it didn't take long for the haters to come knocking. While some had nothing but words of praise, others took the opportunity to slam her technique, and suggest she try cardio for weight loss.
The mother-of-two proceeded to screenshot some of the comments, and implored the trolls to focus on themselves.
People assume I don't work out because I don't feel the need to post it all over the gram, & the reason why? Because it's no ones business what I do with my body," she captioned the post.
"It's not my place to tell others to work out either. My mother is partially paralyzed & would love to move her body in the ways I did in my previous post, but unfortunately that's not a reality for her & so many other people. When you start to truly love yourself, you take care of your body the way YOU see fit. Live & let live y'all. Lastly, when I post about working out, then all of a sudden y'all got jokes, everyone is a doctor & trainer. Y'all just can't handle seeing someone in a plus size body that isn't deemed desirable by societies standards THRIVING & it kills y'all. Worry about your own life."
The model has not always been so confident in her body, however.
In an Instagram post, Tess detailed the trauma she felt when competing in her first and only beauty pageant at the age of 13.
She posted a photo of her in her first beauty pageant, alongside a more recent shot of herself. "Growing up in Mississippi, pageants were life and all of the ‘pretty’ girls did them, and my god how badly I wanted to feel beautiful and fit in," she wrote on the photo sharing site.
"My mom searched everywhere to find a dress to fit me, & this was the only one in town that fit. The rest of the girls competing were showing much more skin, they were all dolled up and I remember the pit in my stomach of feeling so unloveable & unworthy because to me, I didn’t look like them.
When it was my turn of stage, they asked what my hobby was & I said 'collecting tweety bird' & the audience laughed. I held my tears back as I walked off stage. Unsurprisingly, I didn’t win that night, but man, did I end up winning in life..."