This is so inspiring!
Shelley Proebstel was on the beach recently, when a bunch of men started pointing and laughing at her.
Arseholes.
Anyway, Shelley decided to rise above the malicious fat shaming, and turned the incident into a positive.
She took to her personal blog, where she wrote a post about the experience.
"To the guys who pointed and laughed when I took my sarong off today at Mt Maunganui Beach, bearing my soul (my bikini body) to the world, I just want to say (excuse my language but) F*CK YOU."
YES HONEY.
She continued:
"It’s because of d*ckheads like you that people are so incredibly insecure about their body image."
"It’s because of people like you that women especially don’t feel safe or confident or comfortable to go out in society in something like a bikini, or a crop top, or a short dress, or with their midriff showing."
"It’s because of people like you that people starve themselves and make themselves sick in an attempt to maintain a ‘model-like figure’."
The post went on:
"It’s because of people like you that people wear long sleeves all year round because they are scared to show their arms."
"It’s because of people like you that people become anorexic, obese, bulimic, self harm, commit suicide…I could go on. No, you are not responsible for the entirety… But YES, you have to take some responsibility."
"So next time you see someone like me on the beach in a bikini or in a situation similar, before you laugh and point, take a moment to think about the damage you may just do."
"Because not every person, young or old, male or female, will have learnt to have the thick skin, or the resilience, or the self confidence, that I do to brush it off."
Shelly closed off the post, like a queen, saying:
"I won’t lie, there was a split second that I almost quickly covered up again, and then I reminded myself of all I have learnt on this journey, and I held my head high and stuck my belly out and wore that bikini with pride."
What an important message!
