You shouldn't give advice when you're so fat. Why do all trainers have a six-pack but not you? You should suck it in more. These are just a small sampling of the hateful comments Cassey Ho, creator of the YouTube channel Blogilates, has seen posted in response to her Pilates-boot camp videos.
To call attention to just how hurtful these types of messages are, Cassey took to Instagram and posted a photo of her body, altered to look like how she thought her haters might want her to appear. Here's what she posted:
In the post, she linked to an equally powerful video she created about how negative comments impact her on the regular. Check it out:
Intense, right?
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After Instagraming her "perfect" bod, Cassey was shocked to see that the body-shaming continued. Commenters, who probably didn't watch the video, wrote things like, "Still too fat" and "You look anorexic now tbh." Unfortunately, those words drove home Cassey's point that no matter what she looked like, people would still judge her physique.
What's more shocking is that other commenters described Cassey's tweaked body as being a "body goal" and "perfect." Yikes.
In a follow-up Instagram post, the trainer explained, "There was a weird phenomenon that happened when I posted this Photoshopped picture. On the very same photo, I got some people praising me and others degrading me. What worries me is this: 1. That some people think this is real and that it should be 'goals.' 2. That some people still think it's not good enough."
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Hopefully, Cassey's experiment helps others understand that there is no such thing as an ideal body and that loving and nurturing yourself—and boosting the confidence of others—should always be your priority.
Ashley Oerman is a contributing writer at Cosmopolitan, covering fitness, health, food, cocktails, and home. You can follow her on Instagram @AshleyOerman. She is pro-carbs.
