It’s 2016. We anticipated living in a world where we could all live as happily as we all could as adults without having to deal with bullies. Oh, you think you left your bullies back in primary school? Alas, you are unfortunately wrong! There are a bunch of “mainstream media celebrities” making the world angry, and the new name to look out for is Nicole Arbour.
Now don’t get me wrong, it is NOT okay to fight fire with fire. However, the world (and Nicole Arbour) needs to be more educated about the situation at hand: fat shaming. Arbour’s name spread like wildfire when controversy spread over her video “Dear Fat People” that was uploaded on September 3rd, 2015.
She begins the video with “Dear fat people,” and then instantly begins mocking the “fat people” of the world about having an inability to move because of their weight, saying phrases such as “what are you gonna do? You gonna chase me?...I can get away from you by walking at a reasonable pace.” She then continues on for 5 ½ more minutes on the topic of fat shaming not being a thing and how "fat people" would be fine if they just exercised.
The response to this video got so much hate that the comments on the video had to be disabled immediately. I’m sure you could search her name on any social media platform and see that the Internet feels nothing but disgust about Arbour and her thoughts with this video.
Now, the United States is about freedom of expression and being able to have your own opinion, but how far is too far? Yes, Arbour does have the right to her own opinion, but calling out an entire subculture is not necessary (especially one that doesn't even apply to her.) No one is perfect, and everyone has problems with their weight at some point in their life. I bet Arbour has even struggled with body issues like any normal human, but this does not give her the right to call out “fat people.”
What if these people can’t control their weight? I know people who currently have medical problems so exercise isn’t an option for them. Relying only on diet for weight loss isn’t always ideal, and gaining a few pounds is bound to happen. Maybe there are people in this world who have weight built into their genetics and they can’t control it, or they need to be a certain weight for their height in order to remain healthy. Hey, maybe these so-called “fat people” do work out regularly and eat healthy, but their body shape just happens to be a certain way. People can lose weight on their stomach and arms, but what if they can’t control how small their thighs get?
Why is it any of Nicole Arbour’s business how much I weight? I’m not telling her to eat a cheeseburger (but she responded to the Internet’s words from her video with this picture on twitter the following day):
I work out regularly and am pretty close to an ideal weight for my height. Why can’t I have a burger? Oh, right. Because my body isn’t society’s “ideal norm.” I guess I’ll just have to have another salad no dressing while Arbour's natural body and metabolism allow her to eat that burger.
Team Internet managed to drag her down and spread body positivity. It was a glorious day, and Arbour has been unsuccessful with following rants such as Dear Black People, Dear Refugees, and Dear Feminists. Unfortunately, Nicole is striking again.
Curvy girls had a huge victory when Mattel released their new line of Barbies in various shapes and sizes and Sports Illustrated featured Ashley Graham in the 2016 swimsuit issue as a plus-size model. The Internet wasn’t shocked when Nicole Arbour took to Twitter to express her negative thoughts toward these events.
Nicole Arbour kept responding to people’s comments about Graham’s regular workout schedule and how she is in shape. I guess Arbour couldn’t handle it anymore and dropped a bomb on us all…
If you take to Google and do some research, you will learn that A) Arbour and Graham are the same height (5’9”) and B) Graham does have a regular workout schedule and does try to eat healthily. Now just because these two girls are the same height does not mean they have to be the same weight. They come from very different places with different family histories and genetics. Everyone’s body structure is different! They’re both healthy, so why should they even have an opinion on each other?
I'm not saying be mean to skinny girls. If you aren't naturally curvy, that's great! However, if these "fat people" aren't doing harm to Arbour, why is she even bothering to try and bring them down? It brings no good for her, and she's being written off in the books as a mean girl trying to get attention in a negative way in order to achieve fame.
Everyone just try and promise me that you will not give Arbour the attention when her sequel video is uploaded (she tweeted about it, but it has not gone live or had a release date announced.) Maybe she’s jealous that she wasn’t feature in Sports Illustrated. Maybe she doesn't understand how maintaining an average weight is reasonable. Whatever the case may be, don’t give her any attention (good or bad.) No one should be shaming Arbour’s body or Graham’s body or anyone’s body. Learn to spread body positivity and encourage others to be healthy and rock their shape because everyone deserves confidence.
(I'm sure you'll see this trending on Twitter soonenough, so become a part of the act in spreading body positivity!)
