Fitness Blogger Strikes Back Against Fat Shaming

Cassey Ho has millions of followers on her Blogilates fitness channel and website, but the exercise instructor also knows what it’s like to be fat-shamed, critiqued and criticized for her body.

In a recent video called “The Perfect Body,” Ho strikes back against body-image bashing, depicting herself in a fictitious scenario: She returns from a workout and looks at herself in the mirror.

She then goes on to check her phone and read uplifting messages from her fans. Yet the messages quickly become negative, telling her things like,”Trainer?…really? tone up the belly fat and love handles.”

Ho then proceeds to undress and perform a ritual many women (and men) know all too well: She begins pinching at areas of fat, frowning at her reflection and sizing up her thighs with a look of concern.

Photoshop to the rescue

Ho then grabs an imaginary tool and starts “fixing” the imperfections, thinning out her legs, enlarging her breasts and flattening her stomach.

After the transformation, Ho admires her new body but then decides to abandon the changes and return to her normal self. The video ends with a provocative question: “What would you change?”

The message Ho was trying to make with the video was validated when she posted an edited image of herself on Facebook with the caption, “Finally got my perfect body,” and a link to the video.

Many fans reacted to the photo negatively, saying that she looked “anorexic” or that she still looked “too fat.”

“Since I’ve started YouTube, I’ve definitely been attacked here and there,” Ho wrote. “Within the past few months it’s gotten really negative online. Not just comments, but people making full on videos trash talking my body and my techniques as a certified fitness instructor.”

Ho encouraged readers to share the video to battle body image bashing and “outrageous negativity” when it comes to criticizing our own or other people’s bodies.

Source: Cosmopolitan