Tess Holliday responds to criticism that she makes 'everything about her weight'
Tess Holliday is firing back after being told she should "stop making everything" about her weight.
On Tuesday, the 36-year-old model shared a video on Instagram, relaying a story of how someone told her to "live her life" and stop focusing on her size.
"I don't 'make everything about my size,'" Holliday wrote in a lengthy caption. "Society does. I can live in this body and be happy, right up until I step into society’s eyes. When I talk about how my life is impacted negatively simply by existing in this body, the media often writes about it as me going on a 'rant.'”
The mother-of-two explained that she feels compelled to continue discussing how society views larger bodies because she knows "our world can and must be more accepting."
"I implore you to think about what would happen if you were kinder to fat folks? More compassionate? My guess is that it would open your heart and create a more accepting world for a lot of people who look just like me," she wrote.
In the video, Holliday begins by pointing out that "fat people" are in a constant no-win situation and shamed for how they behave and dress.
"We hate it when fat people eat, we hate it when fat people talk about how they struggle with eating and feed their body, we hate it when fat people work out," she said. "And we hate it when fat people talk about struggling with working out or feeling safe in environments where they can."
Holliday explained that people in larger bodies are often criticized for dressing "confidently" however when they choose to dress casually, they're often labelled as "sloppy."
"We hate it when fat people are happy because then that means that maybe happiness isn't dependent on your body size and then maybe that means that if you see a fat person happy, and you aren't happy, and you happen to live in a smaller body, you want what they have and it feels weird because you were always told that you couldn't be happy a certain size," Holliday continued. "People always hate what they don't understand."
"It's a lot easier to hate something that is a direct mirror image of something in yourself that maybe you wanna change," she concluded.
Holliday's video was quickly met with supportive messages from fans who appreciated her powerful message.
"Even if she makes everything about her weight, who cares? Body positivity is something she's passionate about so she pours herself into that. Let her!" one Instagram user commented.
"Exactly. 'Stop focusing on your weight?' Or do they mean stop talking about fatphobia because maybe they feel a little called out?" another said. .
"Thank you, Tess. You’re hitting the nail on the head. It’s a struggle just trying to love the body you are given when the world wants you to hate it," someone else wrote. "You help the world by being your big beautiful self. You help me love my big beautiful self!"
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