Kill 'em with fire or kill 'em with kindness?

Hello sweets,

Something that any woman on social media knows is that there are a lot of people out there who enjoy making women feel shitty about themselves. It's almost like a sport to them. Add fatness into the woman + social media equation and you may as well wear a bullseye on your front.

Last night I got a comment on my fatkini photo on Instagram, and I decided to respond to it. I normally block concern trolls/health judgers immediately and move on as my self worth doesn't hinge on other people's opinion of me and I don't usually care to engage with nasty-minded fools.

Yesterday the family got a bit of bad news and when people I love are going through shit it reminds me to treat people with compassion even more than usual. Hence rather than telling this person to go fuck themselves with a chic 1970s pineapple ice bucket (as I once instructed one concern troll) I decided to respond like a responsible adult.

Here's what they said and how I replied.








It's entirely up to you whether you choose to engage with haters on the internet. Let that sink in. You do not have to respond. If you respond you do not have to respond politely. (Seriously, people who are rude then get butt hurt if we aren't polite in response need to go choke on a pineapple. And people who whine when harassed people take their accounts private and can no longer be harassed need to choke on a medley of pineapples of all shapes and sizes.)

I usually report comments - if they're particularly gross - then block the offending account as I'd rather concentrate on the great people online. For some reason I decided I would engage with this person - I'm not sure why. I went into it taking the higher ground and assuming they are capable of a critical thought and a change of opinion. From past experience I would say thinking optimistically about concern trolls is futile at best and utterly demented at worst, but I live in hope of being proved wrong one day. :)

All I can hope is by being fearless in my self-love it encourages people to think a little differently about themselves and others. I live in hope that all it needs is a shift in perspective to stop concern trolls/health judgers from turning their shitty behaviour into shitty habits which ultimately culminate in them living shitty lives. I choose to love people on a daily basis because when I'm ashes in the wind or rotting in the ground I want my legacy to be pure love. How we treat others is a choice, and I want to be remembered for more good than bad. I want to be remembered for lifting people up, not bringing them down, or else it will have been a wasted life.

So sweet peas, a reminder - no matter what you look like you deserve to live a life free of stigma and ridicule in your body. Whether you are dieting or happy as you are. Whatever you eat, whatever exercise you do, whatever whatever whateverrrrr. There should be no qualifying behaviours for a person to be treated like a uh, yanno, person.

What say ye about health judging people and concern trolls? Kill 'em with fire, or kill 'em with kindness?

Thanks for reading,
Leah xoxo

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