Parenting

Tess Holliday Records Being Body Shamed By Her Uber Driver

by Maria Guido
Updated: 
Originally Published: 
Image via Joshua Blanchard/Getty Images/ Instagram

Tess Holliday got a side of shade with her Uber ride

Women are always judged harshly for things like their weight. And some men have an uncanny ability to move through the world judging women, when they have absolutely no right. Case in point: this Uber driver who decided to fat-shame Tess Holliday. Spoiler alert: he’s not skinny.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BTC5CtgB9hY/?taken-by=tessholliday

“Hey Uber, I don’t pay more to use your ‘black car’ service to be told that there’s no way I could possibly be healthy because I’m fat and then questioning it,” Holliday wrote on a video she posted of the exchange. In it, the man is mentioning something about “cholesterol.” You’ll note that he has a giant gut. Is it wrong that I’m pointing that out? I don’t think so. Because who the hell does this guy think he is and why the hell is commenting on someone else’s size? He should worry about his own damn cholesterol.

Holliday’s caption on the post reads, “My driver who is fat is questioning if I’m healthy.” She explains in her post, “saying my driver is fat was obviously being used as a descriptor and not to insult him.” She edited her post to add that, no doubt after receiving some backlash for pointing out that her jerk driver should mind his own waistline… not anyone else’s.

Is it okay to call people “fat?” No, not really. But it is very frustrating to move through this world as a woman, who is constantly picked apart for how she looks. Any woman with an online presence has felt the wrath of men with too much self-confidence and too little self awareness. Women are constantly judged and eviscerated online. Holliday had every right to stand up for herself — and point out the obvious.

People who others perceive as fat will undoubtedly deal with “concern trolling.” But people who chide fat people for being “unhealthy,” ultimately don’t give a crap about their health. They just want to be jerks, and use feigned concern to deliver their blows. Tess Holliday is used to this, and if you spend even one moment on her Instagram account you’ll see it.

Here’s a harmless photo of the very viral Unicorn Frappuccino that Starbucks is serving this weekend. Holliday shared it to her Instagram account a few days ago.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BTE_taThd-Q/?taken-by=tessholliday

And here is one of the first comments: “why do people follow you and encourage your bad behavior, you do realize you’re dying right? Not fair for your children to live with out a mother who is eating her way to an early grave, that’s very selfish of you!” Really? So should an overweight person only share photos of dieting, crying, and exercising? People are entitle to live their lives without constantly butting up against this kind of assholery.

“No one should have to tolerate this at any level of the services you offer,” Holliday ends her post. “I’m fat. I also have a fat wallet & will no longer be using your services. Ever.”

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