Body-shaming is always wrong. When it comes to body-shaming a gorgeous model like Gigi Hadid, it’s also absurd. (Well, it’s always absurd)
Gigi Hadid is fighting back after haters tried to attack her appearance at New York Fashion week, posting to Twitter about why her body looks the way that it does but telling people off for asking in the first place.
And she’s not mincing words.
Just recently, Gigi Hadid and Bella Hadid posed naked together, which earned some … mixed reactions from folks who found it a little squicky. But this criticism is of a very different nature.
In a thread of tweets that has earned praise from fellow models Kendall Jenner and Chrissy Teigen, Gigi Hadid
“For those of you so determined to come up w why my body has changed over the years, you may not know that when I started @ 17 I was not yet diagnosed w/Hashimoto’s disease.”
Hashimoto’s thyroidism is an autoimmune disease, which as many as 5% of people face during their lives, and it’s much more common in women than in men. Long story short, it results in gradual shrinkage and destruction of the thyroid gland.
“Those of u who called me “too big for the industry” were seeing inflammation & water retention due to that.”
Hateful that she was referred to that way.
She continues to defend herself against body-shaming trolls in further tweets:
“Over the last few years I’ve been properly medicated to help symptoms including those, as well as extreme fatigue, metabolism issues, body’s ability to retain heat, etc … I was also part of a holistic medical trial that helped my thyroid levels balance out.”
Of course, though her shamers years ago thought that she was “too big,” contemporary haters feel that she’s the opposite.
“Although stress & excessive travel can also affect the body, I have always eaten the same, my body just handles it differently now that my health is better. I may be ‘too skinny’ for u, honestly this skinny isn’t what I want to be, but I feel healthier internally and (cont)”
She continues, reminding everyone that she’s 22 and her body is still changing.
“(cont) am still learning and growing with my body everyday, as everyone is.”
Finally, she puts her foot down.
“I will not further explain the way my body looks, just as anyone, with a body type that doesn’t suit ur ‘beauty’ expectation, shouldn’t have to. Not to judge others, but drugs are not my thing, stop putting me in that box just because u don’t understand the way my body has matured.”
Basically, she shouldn’t have to explain her gorgeous figure to anyone, whether she’s retaining water or not.
She expresses a plea for people to, you know, be less terrible.
“Please, as social media users & human beings in general, learn to have more empathy for others and know that you never really know the whole story. Use your energy to lift those that you admire rather than be cruel to those u don’t.”
That’s sound advice.
This is not the first time that Gigi Hadid has spoken of her medical condition. A little over a year ago, she told People:
“My metabolism actually changed like crazy this year. I have Hashimoto’s disease. It’s a thyroid disease, and it’s now been two years since taking the medication for it.”
Medication can really make a difference.
“It’s now been two years since taking the medication for it, so for the [Victoria’s Secret] show I didn’t want to lose any more weight.”
She has some goals for her own body.
“I just want to have muscles in the right place, and if my butt can get a little perkier, then that’s good.”
First of all, it’s awesome that Gigi smacked down her critics the way that she did.
This should also be inspirational to others who face body shaming.
Sure, most can’t relate to a supermodel who is gorgeous beyond reason. But if someone like Gigi Hadid’s appearance is getting picked apart, both by people who find her “too thin” or “too large,” that should tell people who face fat-shaming that trolls will never be satisfied.\
There’s nothing wrong with Gigi’s figure and there’s nothing wrong with anyone else’s, either.
It’s sad that she had to say what she said, but we’re so glad that she did. Gigi Hadid, you’re doing amazing.
