The body positivity movement is still in full swing.
But there are still a load of cavemen types out there who refuse to be dragged into 2018, and who are determined to shut down anyone who’s happy with being bigger than a size 12.
Take plus-size blogger Melissa Gibson, for example.
She’s pretty big in the body positivity world and she regularly shares empowering photos to try to encourage other women to take pride in their bodies.
On New Year’s Eve, she posted a photo of her and her boyfriend, Johnathon, celebrating.
Yep, just a pic of one woman sharing a NYE kiss with her beau.
And that was too much for some people.
‘Go to the gym and eat better you fat person, like you are DYING I’d rather be smoking than be your size,’ wrote one guy.
Other comments suggested that she doesn’t deserve her boyfriend because he’s thinner than her or that he was living out some kind of fat fetish.
So Melissa felt compelled to respond…by posting another picture of her and her boyfriend.
A post shared by Melissa Gibson (@yourstruelymelly) on
‘When taking a picture in a sparkly dress next to the man you love makes people comment about your body, question your relationship, make judgements about him for loving you,’ read the caption.
‘Our relationship is political. Even though we both know how natural and right it feels. And if the world won’t just let us be, we will keep fighting for our love, for our space, for our right to be seen, accepted without question, and celebrated. In all honesty, it’s silly to think it bothers people so much, but when privileged people base their value on attraction and relationships, it results in the plethora of relationships that look like mine being erased and delegitimized.
More: Sex
‘Like somehow I don’t deserve him or our love isn’t real. We are exactly what each other wants, and guess what, our bodies are a part of that. It’s not an abnormality or a fetish. It’s simply natural. So while you insist on yelling your insecurities and bigotry at me, realize I’m not playing the game you play any longer.’
She tells Cafe Mom: ‘I think people feel entitled because there is a sense that attraction is tied only to bodies that fit within a certain mould, one that my body does not fit into, but my partner’s does.
‘What they are doing is not only defining a person’s worth by their body, but also then buying into ideas about who deserves to be loved and by whom.’
She goes on to say that 2018 is the year that love isn’t defined by weight, age, ability, gender or sexuality.
Let’s hope it’s also the year that some of these keyboard warriors also get actual hobbies or make real life friends.
MORE: ‘What’s Your Excuse?’ mum is back five years later and claims she’s changed
MORE: How to stay body positive when you’re being bombarded with pressure to lose weight in the New Year
[contf] [contfnew] 
METRO
[contfnewc] [contfnewc]
