Lifestyle

This YouTube Fitness Star Is Standing Up To Skinny-Shamers Who Need To STFU

by Kate Ryan

Skinny-shaming, a rising and troubling new trend, involves shaming people (usually women) for their slender physiques. One YouTube fitness star, Amanda Russell, has had enough and decided to speak out recently about her own experience with skinny-shaming.

In a ten-minute video, Russell speaks openly with friend Rebekah Buruchi about the negative comments she's received about her body in the course of becoming a fitness icon. She says,

The comments that have been made to me have been so extreme — have ranged from everything from 'You need to eat a sandwich,' to literally, I had someone call me out in the middle of a room saying, 'Do you eat?' The feeling of that kind of comment in front of a group of peers is probably one of the most embarrassing, hurtful moments ... you don't even know how to respond.

As a naturally thin person and regular human woman, I can definitely relate. It looks like thousands of others can, too, as the video has already racked up over 150,000 views in just a few days.

Body positivity has been gaining traction in the media for the last decade or so, but it hasn't come without a catch. Championing curvy shapes is all well and good until you start putting down those who aren't the most voluptuous. Buruchi puts this into perspective, saying,

[Skinny shaming] is just as bad as the whole fat-shaming thing. It's just as bad as teasing someone because they're overweight. It's the same thing.

Body positivity means celebrating all body types -- big and small. That's something we can become more reticent of if we want women and men to feel comfortable in their own bodies.

Watch the video above to hear Russell's entire conversation with Buruchi.

And when you're done, watch the video below for a pretty ingenious workout hack. 

Citations: Watch YouTube Fitness Star Amanda Russell's Moving Response to Being Skinny-Shamed (Cosmopolitan)