On Gabby Sibide’s “Weight Loss” And Unnecessary Bodyshaming
Gabourey Sibide posts a pic on Insta that has nothing to do with weight loss, and a bunch of trolls on the internet made it all about weight loss.
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A few days ago Gabourey Sibide (best known for her portrayal as Precious in the 2009 eponymous film) posted an adorable selfie on Instagram showing off her awesomeness. It included bitchin’ hair, a fab outfit, a flippin’ cute-as-can-be smirk WITH PURPLE LIPSTICK. Slay, girl. Slay.
So where do I even start with what happened next? Instead of just praising the girl for being herself and about things that matter (how well she can pull off PURPLE LIPSTICK, for example, or how talented she is, or what an awesome person she is), the resident trolls of the interwebs pounced.
They pounced like an emaciated lion on a body-positive whatever in drought-ridden grasslands.
NOWHERE in her Instagram post did Gabby say anything about “look at my weight loss”, or “I’ve lost XX pounds!” Unless she happens to be speaking some magical fairy language… Maybe, “Is it too early in the morning for selfies with a Mayfair filter?” translates to “Hey please talk about my weight some more since you haven’t already done that enough, you insecure hacks.” I dunno.
So why the obsession with weight loss? Well, because our society (albeit moving towards a more body-positive outlook, even if it is as a slow loris‘ pace- and yes, I’m definitely aware that a slow loris’ venom is deadly, hence the analogy) is obsessed with weight and image. If someone looks different from our perceived “right way”, we have a terrible time just keeping our mouths shut and letting a person live.
Gabby has been outspoken about her self-love and body image since her lightning fast rise to fame. She told Oprah in 2009,
"“My first diet started when I was six-years-old. I’ve never been a small girl. One day I had to sit down with myself and decide that I loved myself no matter what my body looked like and what other people thought about my body… I got tired of feeling bad all the time. I got tired of hating myself.”"
She also famously SHUT DOWN the trolls on Twitter back in 2014:
To people making mean comments about my GG pics, I mos def cried about it on that private jet on my way to my dream job last night. #JK
— Gabby Sidibe (@GabbySidibe) January 13, 2014
InTouch Weekly seems to have picked up this whole “weight loss selfie” thing first, and quoted Gabby exactly as I just did. They aren’t alone, of course. Just Google “Gabby Sibide weight loss” and try not to vomit.
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After talking about how good she looks and how her face seems so much thinner, InTouch Weekly punctuated their ironically shallow article with “We love you at any size, Gab!”
How about, WE LOVE YOU, GAB.
Just love. With no qualifications, ever.