On a flight for a modeling shoot, a woman named Natalie Hage (@effyourbeautystandards admin and model) experienced an unfortunate body-shaming experience with a passenger next to her. This man decided to ‘discreetly’ criticize this beautiful girl in a thread of (visible) text messages because of her plus-size figure. But best believe she did not let him have the last word and she filmed the whole dialogue between them.
The Situation
In the video that Natalie posted on her Facebook, she called out the guy who was texting rude messages about her to someone on his cell phone. To which the guy responded, “No I wasn’t…” But Natalie had the receipts! She mentioned the photographic evidence that she took of his texts and quoted some of the mean things he said in the texts: “Oh, she ate a Mexican. Well if my flight doesn’t take off the ground, you know why.”
But don’t worry, it gets better!
When he realized he was caught in the act, he blames it on him ‘drinking.’ Um, no…just no! Definitely not a valid excuse, but then again there is no proof in the video of him with or without an alcoholic beverage. But lo and behold, he obviously felt a slight sense of guilt and began apologizing and continuing to blame it on the alcohol.
Meanwhile, Natalie stood her ground by telling him how hurtful his words and actions were, how uncomfortable he made her feel, and how experiences like this can really affect and upset people.
Natalie continued to lecture the man and called him out saying, “You know nothing about me, by the size of my body.” And of course, the man tried to act all innocent as if he was not in the wrong at all. But then argued with her that she chose an exit seat and what would she do in the case of an emergency… When in reality, she paid an extra $70 because she knew that she would need the extra leg room and did not want to inconvenience anyone. Also, the flight chosen was bought by the company that was flying her out for the modeling shoot. So, she was actually trying to think of others before herself in this case.
Finally, Natalie disciplined the man, saying: “Don’t ever treat somebody like that again. You don’t know anything about me!” To which he said, “You’re absolutely right.” He apologized again and then he offered to buy her a meal, to which she obviously declined.
Why would she want to spend more time with him? Pass on that!
Enough With The Shaming!
This is not the first time we’ve heard of a shaming-related incident. Whether it’s makeup-shaming or outfit-shaming, it’s all wrong! The lesson we can all take from this story is to not act as immature as this man and to treat everyone you meet with respect. Also, never judge someone by the way that they physically look, especially out in the open like this guy did.
After Natalie posted the video on her Facebook page, it’s gone viral with over 1.5 Million views! Natalie thanked her supporters in her latest Instagram post, reminding people that they have a voice that counts, and ended the post with this: “I felt about an inch tall when that man did that to me on the plane. But after standing up to him and feeling so much support from the world, I feel like I can do anything.”
Keep up the positivity, Natalie!