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What do a supermodel, a pregnant reality star, and Miss America all have in common? According to a few opinionated voices, they're all fat. The most recent target is Kelsey Williams, an NBA cheerleader for the Oklahoma City Thunder, who came under e-fire for her so-called "pudgy" size 4 waistline. Incredible right? We can all agree that this particular insult is getting old. But as destructive and terrible as fat-shaming is, watching how women respond is downright inspiring. Below, we rounded up how ladies who have been targeted handled the debate over their physiques. (Spoiler alert, they refuse to listen!)
Kelsey Williams: On April 22nd, a female blogger for CBS called the Oklahoma City Thunder Girl "too chunky" to be an NBA cheerleader regarding some "pudginess around her waistline."
At the end of an entire blog post dedicated to Williams's physique, she went so far as include a user poll in which readers could vote on whether or not Williams had "the perfect look to be an NBA cheerleader," if she "could use some tightening up in her midsection," or if she "has no business wearing that outfit in front of people." Williams responded with this simple quote: "To be womanly always, discouraged never." Last week she went on Good Morning America to make sure the still unidentified (but now unemployed) blogger was held accountable for her insults. The message? A resonating, "Shame on you."
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Kate Upton: "Thinspirational" blog SkinnyGossip got serious attention last year by calling the then 20-year-old bombshell "well-marbled." The author also tossed around the adjectives "lardy" and "lazy," and several comparisons to various barnyard animals. The Sports Illustrated cover girl's response? To ignore the negativity and keep on doing her effervescent, bikini-clad thing in front of the camera. She proves that you don't have to say much to shut down haters.
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Kim Kardashian: Every tabloid from New York Post to In Touch and OK! has knocked Kim K's baby weight—so much so that Gloria Steinem had to intervene. "If our bodies are treated as ornaments instead of instruments that's because we are rebelling...it's an effort to distract us," she told US Weekly when asked about targeting pregnant women's bodies at a DVF event last month. "So don't be distracted. Why bother getting caught up in that?" Despite pregnancy struggles, Kim's still fearlessly taking to the red carpet in a high-fashion "maternity" wardrobe by the likes of Lanvin, Givenchy, and Christian Louboutin.
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Mallory Hytes Hagan: If anyone knows how to rock a bathing suit, it's this year's Miss America. But when vacation photos of Hytes Hagan in a swimsuit surfaced in January, both the tabloids and the Internet attacked her real-woman body. Always a diplomat, she went on Anderson Live and made no apologies for being a human that requires food. "I like to equate getting ready for the Miss America pageant to getting ready for a boxing match. We get in shape and then afterwards life goes back to normal."