When fashion blogger Bethany Rutter heard about “fat-shaming” cards being handed out in tube stations across London, UK, she decided to fight the cowardly bullies with positivity and body confidence.
@kflorish pic.twitter.com/gBIvj69WQ1
— Kara Florish (@kflorish) November 28, 2015
The nasty message on the card tells the receipient, “You’re a fat, ugly human,” adding that, “We do not understand why you fail to grasp that by eating less you will be better off, slimmer, happy and find a partner who is not a perverted chubby lover – or even find a partner at all.”
No YOU do ? pic.twitter.com/Kegg7uD4FO
— navabi (@navabiFashion) November 30, 2015
Bethany’s cards simply read, “You look great!”
She tweeted the body-confident cards and headed out to hand her cards to strangers.
“I handed them out in one of the busiest areas of London. Only a couple of people asked what it was about and they were shocked by overweight haters and really receptive towards my more positive idea. Most people just said thank you with a happy, bemused look on their face.”
Bethany’s idea sparked a wave of positive cards appearing all over Twitter.
https://twitter.com/woodstocktaylor/status/671930937819717636/photo/1
Woodstock Taylor’s card, above, mimicked Overweight Haters own: “We do not understand why you fail to understand that by stopping bullying you will be better off in yourself, calmer, happy and more likely to find a partner…”
Others used their own terminology to spread the body love.
https://twitter.com/StonemanGeorge/status/671687569302806529/photo/1
And others still simply hugged early-morning commuters.
In contradiction to unkind #fatshaming cards, there was a man giving free hugs at Kings Cross tube station yesterday morning.
— T Wardhaugh (@wardhaugh) December 1, 2015
The positive wave kept growing and gaining new ideas.
Let's counter fat-shaming on the Tube with cards saying 'Lovely hat' & 'The way you did your eyeliner during rush hour was inspirational'.
— Yvette Caster (@YvetteCaster) December 1, 2015
Navabi even went a step further than cards and actually bought the domain name OverweightHaters.com, replacing their fat-shaming site with the story behind the cards.
Bethany told TODAY, “I’m really happy that I’m not alone in doing this and more people are making positive cards.”
“London is known as being such a difficult, hostile city, but so many people who live here are happy, positive people.”