Tess Holliday slams media for sharing photos of her eating at Disneyland: 'It's corny and it's harmful'
Tess Holliday hit back at outlets who shared photos of her eating while enjoying a day at Disneyland with her family.
On Wednesday, the model and body acceptance advocate took to Instagram to express her feelings about photos published by The Daily Mail and The Daily Mirror, which show her eating multiple things at the park.
“This week, I went to Disneyland with my family,” she began the caption. “In the 10 hours I was there, I walked MILES, went on rides, and yea, ate some great food. The @dailymail & @dailymirror decided to share some paparazzi photos of me at my most tired and only in the moments when I was eating food. Ever notice how smaller bodied public figures can eat whatever they want and somehow that’s either ignored or seen as cute?!”
She criticizes the outlets for showing the version of her that they “want the world to see,” which is “a fat person eating and being tired.” What they missed, Holliday explained, was the reality of her “great day” with her son, Bowie.
“When the media shares photos of me through the lens of their fat phobic assumptions, they tell everyone who looks like me that they are worthless,” she continued. “When they create a breeding ground for body shaming comments, they create a swamp where hatred of others and of ourselves can grow. It’s just not productive — if we want to live in a better, kinder world, we need to reject this kind of harmful behavior.”
Holliday, who created the social media initiative #EffYourBeautyStandards in order to celebrate body diversity online, asked people who want to criticize her to find a “better reason” than her body.
“It’s corny and it’s harmful — not just to me, but to every single person who looks like me, which is a huge percentage of the world right now,” the model wrote. “To my community of fat folks/those that struggle with your body image: y’all are seen, valued, and appreciated just as you are RIGHT NOW. We live joyful, active, and fulfilling lives… just like everyone else. No matter who you are or what you look like, no matter what you can do with your body or how you choose to dress, y’all are worthy of love. Don’t let morons like the @dailymirror / @dailymail or anyone else tell you otherwise.”
Holliday has clapped back at outlets before for their coverage of her body. Earlier this year, she took to Instagram to criticize a tabloid for saying she had one of the “worst beach bodies.” While she declared that the title was nonsense as she looked “fine as hell,” she also added, “The media always acts shocked when ‘celebs’ suffer mental health breakdowns but they continue to perpetuate unrealistic body standards & push toxic diet culture on us all.”