Actress Accused of ‘Body-Shaming’ Her Own Body

ashley.rae | June 20, 2017
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Actress Lucy Hale, best known for her role on “Pretty Little Liars,” is under fire for “body-shaming” herself on social media.

On Instagram for Father’s Day, Hale shared an old photo of herself with her father. In the comments section, Hale added, “ugh I was so fat.”

 

You taught me to have soul. I love you daddy.

A post shared by Lucy Hale (@lucyhale) on

Although Hale was making a comment about her own assessment of her looks, Hale immediately received backlash for her remark.

Teen Vogue wrote the headline, “Lucy Hale Body-Shamed Herself on Instagram,” adding in the summary, “Body-shaming is never OK.” Cosmpolitan noted, “Lucy Hale Upsets Followers With ‘Fat’ Comment About Herself.” PopBuzz said, “Lucy Hale Made A Problematic Comment About Her Body And Now People Are Unhappy.”

In Teen Vogue’s piece on the matter, author Brittney McNamara writes of being upset over someone critiquing their own looks. 

“Yes, it's true that everyone has insecurities," McNamara wrote. "The real criticism is that Lucy's comment implies being fat is a negative. Lucy has the right to feel however she wants about her own body, but we also hope she remembers that fatness is not a bad thing.”

McNamara also insists that by commenters calling Hale beautiful, regardless of her size, it is somehow perpetuating the idea that fat people cannot be beautiful:

Others have supported Lucy's negative portrayal of being fat by commenting and saying she has always been beautiful. That implies that fat people are not beautiful, and there's a difference between being fat and being pretty. But people of all sizes and shapes can be beautiful, and there is no size immune to bullies, which is why a bully's opinion is more of a reflection on them than on you. It's important to remember that how you feel about your body often needs a change in perspective, rather than a physical change.

In another hint of irony, McNamara claims, “Body-shaming in any form is not OK, whether you're shaming someone for being over or underweight. As long as Lucy is comfortable with how she feels, that is all that matters, and others have no place making judgments about her weight,” while simultaneously criticizing Hale — not someone else — for judging her own weight.

Cosmopolitan’s Kristina Rodulfo called Hale’s comment “problematic” and said that Hale has “to be extra careful when discussing body image on their public platforms,” despite also being humans.

In Refinery29’s report on the issue, they note Hale has publicly discussed suffering from an eating disorder in the past before praising people for “calling out” her comment and condemning her for being “irresponsible.”

Regardless of her known struggle with her body image, Hale has since apologized for her own assessment of her body:

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