Kerri Verna has the best answer to the age-old question of, “Does this make my butt look big?” Her response: “Wait, why do I care?”
Verna, who posts under the handle @beachyogagirl on Instagram, recently posted a snap of her working out in white booty shorts. But where most of us saw strong legs, a confident stance and amazing muscles (talk about back #goals!) some haters said she had a “large ass” and her shorts made her look fat. Ashamed, she did what many of us would do in the same situation, and quickly pulled the pictures down.
Even worse, the comments made her doubt herself and her incredibly capable body in general.
“Even though I’m totally happy with my body and completely self confident with my body image, I will say on that particular day I wasn’t feeling my best,” she wrote. “I began to look closely at all my photos. Not that I thought I was ‘fat’ but I began to question wearing white and if it ‘made me look fat’.”
Ah, the stereotypical lady dilemma of “Does this make me look fat?” rears its ugly head again! Who hasn’t been there, standing in front of the mirror, dissecting their outfit and body from every angle?
But then this happened:
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After a good night’s rest (the best antidote for self-doubt ever), she says she woke up the next day wondering why she let some random get to her like that and ruin a happy day. “These photos are for me and no one else. I love fashion, photography, puppies, yoga, fitness, and the beach. They are all for me and I’m quite happy with who I am,” she explained. “If someone is inspired by me that makes it even better.”
Who wouldn’t be inspired by this?
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And she had some advice for her booty-shamers: “If you think my butt is too big to wear white or you think white makes my butt look too big in this photo and you want to tell me … 1. You are a troll. And 2. Thank you for your opinion but I didn’t ask and I don’t care.”
Her response to being body-shamed was perfect, simple and powerful. I love that she isn’t saying “Hey my butt isn’t big!” or “These shorts are totally flattering!” (even though I do think both of those things are objectively true) but rather that she’s saying these things don’t matter. If we are happy and confident in a slinky dress/leggings/crop top/bikini/white booty shorts, then who cares what anyone else thinks? Especially on the Internet, where picking women’s bodies apart is basically the business model for whole industries.
“Women of all sizes need to love their bodies and wear white shorts if you want to! If you like it, wear it,” Verna concluded. “Never let anyone’s opinion make you feel bad or shameful about your body. It’s just a shell. It doesn’t define you.”
So the next time you’re feeling like hiding because you’re having a “fat day” or are tempted to delete an “unflattering” picture of a happy memory, remember what’s important is how we use our bodies, not how we decorate them.
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