A brief overview
The nature of social media trends is such that they can prove to be both a blessing and a curse, particularly when they overlap into one particular issue, such as policing women’s bodies on social media. The problem is evident after a post by plus-size model and social media influencer Erin Marley Klay got more than 75 million views on the social media app X, aka Twitter.
A recent post she shared on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
Though many viewers loved her message and her self-empowerment philosophy, there were those who responded to her expression with a wave of negative attacks on her body. These attacks varied from what one could call generic Web trolling to personally targeted attacks on her body and her affrontery to express herself.
Staking a claim to her narrative – Online Body Shaming Backfires
However, unlike those women, Erin didn’t take this disrespect to heart. Rather, she decided to clap back at her critics. Klay posted again, this time to address what had transpired and to shift her attention to women who took the liberty to contact her, thanking her for showing them what true confidence is about.
“I am not here to seek approval,” she said. “I am here to tell this woman that when I saw myself on screen wearing a bikini, I couldn’t believe myself because I know that women with her body type could not occupy such space.”
The message Klay conveyed wasn’t one of defensiveness but one of celebration, one about being present within a culture that still grapples with issues of diversity when it comes to size.
Why Online Body Shaming Still Matters
Klay’s experience is simply not unique. The body shaming on social media is one issue that women, but more particularly those who are fat women, grapple with on a daily basis. Social media is one such platform that has increasingly been identified to mirror social biases.
This episode also draws attention to the disturbing trend that is being normalized concerning cruel behavior towards non-conforming bodies. The influencers, like regular social media followers, continue to feel required to legitimize their existence on social media, unlike thinner social media followers.
Lessons Learned From Erin’s Moment
The negative experience could have been a low point but, instead, is remembered by Marley Klay as a positive turning point. The fact that Marley Klay defied her critics and took back her story is what makes her experience outstanding.
From her story, there is much to take into heart: that to exist is to resist, and each image, each post, each clapback erodes misogynistic norms that make body shaming on social media such an issue. This is a timely reminder that campaigning for body acceptance is not achieved on social media hashtags but requires courage, strength, and voices such as one heard via Erin’s blog post, which refuses to diminish.
