We all are guilty of body shaming fat people, if not on their face, then behind their backs. Plus-size people have to endure smirks, vile comments and other indignities.
The latest to hit the headlines on this account is Anna O’Brien, a plus-size Instagram fashion model and fashion blogger. She managed to impress one activewear brand that hired her to prove a point. The company, ‘Academy Sports and Outdoors’ chose her as a new face for their ‘BCG’ activewear line that offers up to size 3X for women.
This New York-based model is not plus-size by choice but continuously struggled to remain fit by following a stringent fitness regime for years. However, she faced moments of anxiety, when she was unable to find affordable wear for her size for working out.
She does not mince words when she says, “For plus size women, finding activewear that fits and is available in-store is nearly impossible.” To stress her point, she wrote on Academy’s Instagram page, “This single challenge in one of the greatest barriers to plus-size women becoming active.”
The Academy went ahead with her sporty photo shoot that really rocked and attracted over 13 thousand likes.She also received hundreds of comments. However, the height was not everyone wrote kind and encouraging comments. Although O’Brien is more than capable of handling internet trolls on her own, this time it was Academy that came to her rescue.
One of the trolls, named James, wrote a nasty comment under one of O’Brien’s photos that read, “This is disgusting you are making being fat a good thing, people should be ashamed of being fat, not proud.”
To this Academy’s praiseworthy response was, “Hi James, at Academy we truly believe every woman should have the same opportunity to enjoy sports and the outdoors. As a result, we will continue to represent a wide range of body types. We’re all different, but our access to an active lifestyle shouldn’t be.”
This was certainly a morale booster for all plus-sized women that stress on the acceptance of all body types striving towards fitness. O’Brien is upbeat about this development and says, “I spent 25 years waiting to be active. Now I will spend 25 more helping people of all sizes see the benefits of moving more.”
It is no wonder that people are appreciating the stand taken by the Academy and have started preferring their products.
Via: Boredpanda | Glitter | Academy Sports
