A woman who claimed she was body-shamed by another restaurant-goer in a now-viral tweet has received an outpouring of support.
Adrienne Airhart was celebrating her birthday when she claimed she was told by the woman seated next to her that her chest was “distracting” and moved tables in the restuarant. The Los Angeles-based podcaster posted the moment to Twitter, where it gained more than 34,000 likes.
Airhart wrote: “Tonight at my birthday dinner I took off my shawl and the lady at the next table said: ‘Well those are distracting’ and moved tables. Still got it!” She clarified that the woman was “prejudiced against big naturals”.
In a follow-up tweet, Airhart shared a video of herself blowing out her birthday candle. In the clip, the woman’s date is seen congratulating her on her birthday.
“This was me last night,” she tweeted. “I’m not even that hot, the lady was just a hater. (Though her date did talk to me when she went to the bathroom…you can hear him)”.
The viral moment prompted other social media users to share their support for Airhart, with many women offering up their own experiences of being body-shamed.
“I’ll never forget when I was on work experience at 15 years old and the lady I was ‘working’ for wrote in my evaluation that I dressed inappropriately,” replied one Twitter user. “I didn’t, I was wearing exactly what they had told me to wear. I simply had breasts.”
“I had a red fitted tank top on under a red jacket (not zipped up, but it was uniform appropriate) when I worked at a major retail store at 18/19year,” shared someone else. “Was called into HR and told a woman complained about my distasteful cleavage and they forced me to wear and buy an XXL branded polo.”
“In college, I was in a bar going to the bathroom and this guy said with a very serious face: ‘You NEED to watch where you’re going with those things,’” one woman wrote. “Saw him in the cafeteria a couple weeks later. No risk of him recognising me because he never looked at my face”.
Another woman shared how she celebrates her body: “Man, I am in the process of scheduling a double mastectomy, and I’ve realised how I’ve taken these beauties for granted all these years. Very sad to see them go. I’m glad you’re celebrating your boobs – I’m celebrating mine while I still can!!”
A recent study found that 94 per cent of girls as young as 13 years old have experienced body-shaming. While many women gave Airhart words of encouragement, Airhart still fielded her fair share of negative comments.
“Omg was it you who asked to move tables???” Airhart responded to a user that was offended by her outfit choice on Twitter.
Airhart’s story comes after former Miss Universe Olivia Culpo was allegedly told to cover up by American Airlines staff in January or told she would not be able to board her flight to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico.
The model, 29, was dressed in a long black cardigan, a pair of shorts, and a crop top which showed her midriff. Culpo’s sister Aurora, who she was travelling with, filmed her sister at the airport in the outfit she was wearing, calling it “cute” and “appropriate”. She explained that her sister had been called up to the airline desk to “tell her that she needs to put a blouse on otherwise she can’t get on the plane”. “Tell me is that not so f***ed up?” she said.
