You look good

You look good

Lessons in fighting body shaming.
A 71-year-old woman went to a Los Angeles gym, which sounds like she was keeping both her mind and body in good health.
Then young Playboy model Dani Mathers furtively shot the woman in the changing room, and posted this photo on Snapchat along with a scornful comment. Many such acts of body shaming occur on social media every day. But in this case a court has come down heavy on the bully, muting her ugly attempt to make other women afraid to go to the gym because of the way they look.
Celebrities of course have always had to deal with unending scrutiny of their bodies. Cinderella's waist can never be small enough. Superman is supposed to make Schwarzenegger look like a wimp. Russell Crowe is kicked in the teeth for no longer looking like Gladiator while Leonardo DiCaprio is labelled Leolardo DiFlabrio. Anushka Shetty may just have essayed the weightiest female role of Devasena in Baahubali but trolls gripe that she is not as light as a feather. What ordinary mortals can learn from celebrities' experience is to 1) show solidarity against the cyber bullies and 2) fight body shaming with stupid shaming. Like JK Rowling responded to a nasty tweet about how the main reason for Serena Williams' success is that she is built like a man, with “Yeah, my husband looks just like this in a dress. You're an idiot.”
Humans come in many shapes and sizes. Those Instagram filters can't erase the existence of stretch marks, acne, blemishes, wrinkles and scars. They're OK. It's OK to be curvy or flat-chested, plump or skinny, hirsute or bald. Body shaming is not OK.