This Woman's Emotional Post About 'Living in a World That Celebrates Weight Loss at Any Cost' Has Gone Viral
Meg Boggs is a 31-year-old writer and mom in Dallas who regularly posts about body positivity on Instagram. She has more than 79K followers, but like so many other influencers, she has to deal with her share of trolls and critics.
On Thursday, one comment in particular sparked her anger—prompting her to unleash an emotional post about being fed up with society's "fatphobia" and the toxic effects it has on people whose body dimensions don't fit the cultural beauty standard.
Boggs was in the middle of a workout when she saw the troll's message telling her to lose weight. This kind of comment is typical, Boggs tells Health. But this time, it came when she was in the middle of a powerlifting session. Feeling strong and raw, she took to Instagram and posted a now-viral message about how exhausting it is to deal with so much body shaming and hate.
In her post, she shared a photo of herself in her bra and underwear on her bed, along with a long, heartfelt caption about the way society treats people with bigger bodies.
“To be honest, we are tired,” she began her caption. “Tired of sitting at dinner tables with anxiety as we consider what others will think of what we eat, expecting either a few side eyes or full on unwanted conversations about it. Tired of preparing how to defend our diet habits while waiting to see the doctor for a sprained ankle.”
A post shared by Meg Boggs (@meg.boggs) on Aug 15, 2019 at 1:04pm PDT
Boggs shared more examples of how society’s negative perception of plus-size people affects her daily life. She explained how she has walked into clothing stores, only to find out that the largest size offered was seven sizes smaller than her own. She stressed how upsetting it is to watch movies where larger bodies are rarely represented, and when they are, it's often in a negative light.
She also called out the way our culture urges larger people to diet, and then congratulates them if they do lose weight. “Tired of all the weight loss ads about how to easily stop all of this with a new, shiny version of starving ourselves,” she continued. “Tired of being told that it’s the answer to all of our problems - that are only real problems because of how we’re treated.”
This isn't Boggs' first foray into the world of body positivity. She's long used social media as a platform to promote acceptance and self-love for postpartum bodies. She has previously written about society's negative outlook on different body shapes, and how that mentality has to change.
“We need acceptance. We need representation. We need inclusion,” she wrote. “We need the worldwide message to be that our worth has nothing to do with our weight. If anyone really cares about changing lives, that’s the message that will change them.”
RELATED: This Influencer Posted a Photo in Her Bra and Underwear to Show the Biggest Problem With Dieting
“Because for the first time, it will come from a place of self-love, not from a place of self-hate," she added. "We are tired of being told to hate ourselves enough to change....We aren’t allowing ourselves to believe that BS anymore.”
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