A 19-year-old girl from Swansboro, N.C. was fat-shamed at church on Sunday, when a congregation leader followed her to the bathroom an...
A 19-year-old girl from Swansboro, N.C. was fat-shamed at church on Sunday, when a congregation leader followed her to the bathroom and told her, “Fat girls don’t wear shorts.”
The teen, who goes by Jenna on Twitter, took to her social media to share a video that she captured when a woman named Bonnie Sue confronted her in the bathroom of Swansboro United Methodist Church. When the clip starts, Sue is seemingly referring to another churchgoer when she says, “She’s a chubby girl. She’s got a dress on that’s appropriate.”
When Jenna responds, “So you’re sitting here calling me fat?” Sue counters, “Oh, you don’t think you are?”
This women followed me into the bathroom and attacked me calling me fat and that I couldn’t wear jean shorts because I was too fat
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Jenna is heard breaking down into tears, while Sue continues to taunt and threaten her.
“Don’t come back on that stage with those shorts,” Sue said. “I’m warning you.”
According to an explanation included in Jenna’s Twitter thread, the teen is a member of the contemporary band at her church, but writes “I will never get back up on the stage to sing again.”
“I’m honestly shocked and upset that this happened at church,” she wrote. “I should feel accepted and loved and now I don’t want to go back to that church.”
The pastor of Swansboro United Methodist Church, G. Kevin Baker, provided Yahoo Lifestyle with a statement that was sent to the community on Tuesday. Jenna also added the letter as an update to her thread.
Something I did not say originally is why I went to the bathroom. I currently have a family member in the hospital with a brain aneurysm and I was checking to see if there were any updates, she caught me a very vulnerable time
The lead pastor sent this out to people(since some of you found the church, also please don’t be a bully back nothing will be solved from that... an eye for an eye makes the whole world go blind)
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“It has come to our attention that great harm has been done in an incident that occurred this past Sunday where a faithful and very gifted young lady and worship leader was body shaming for her appearance,” the statement reads. “We are shocked and saddened by this act. The Church is supposed to be a place of safety, love and acceptance.”
According to Jenna’s thread, the pastor told her that Sue won’t be working in any sort of committee or in any leadership role at the church ever again. In an email to Yahoo Lifestyle, Baker also noted that Sue and is a church member and not an employee.
Beyond the pastor’s support, however, Jenna has received an outpouring of love from thousands of Twitter users — including actress and body positive activist Jameela Jamil.
So horrified to watch what you were put through. You don’t deserve that. You look fucking brilliant in those shorts. That woman is an arsehole. Well done for fighting back. I didn’t have the courage to do that when I was younger. You’re so inspiring. Sending you love.
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This breaks my heart. Her behavior is so cruel and ugly. Keep singing and keep shining. She is clearly not an authority on any kind of loving God.
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This is terrible. I hope you know you can wear whatever you want ESPECIALLY THOSE FUCKING SHORTS
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I’m so angry you had to experience this. I have nothing to take the pain away but please kno you are loved and amazing just as you are, and that I will take time to hex her tonight.
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I wear shorts like yours all the time. You and I shall rock the world with our beautiful bodies and badass shorts
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Jamil also retweeted the video onto her own page where she made a statement about the “daily harassment people receive over their size.”
This is the daily harassment people receive over their size. Even at the hands of people old enough to know better. Even in sacred places. Even in their own doctor’s practices. Our hypernormalization of policing and ridiculing fat bodies is what leads to this brazen bullying.twitter.com/roo_jenna/stat…
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“Even at the hands of people old enough to know better. Even in sacred places. Even in their own doctor’s practices,” she wrote. “Our hypernormalization of policing and ridiculing fat bodies is what leads to this brazen bullying.”
If he said fat girls should not wear shorts, whould that have been ok?
ReplyDeleteThat's how you go to church looking like a "people of Wal-Mart" center fold ? Definitely not a soft girl. Even talking a picture of yourself IN THE MIRROR , can you not see sloppiness and overweight staring you in the face ? Please stay off of TikTok. I only enjoy fit females. Typical American female : Sloppy , fat , no dress sense , and tattoos all over so bad that you want to get sandpaper and remove them.
ReplyDeleteNot to a libturd.....that would be fat shaming you know.....a fate worse than death to a fattie you know.
ReplyDeleteShe shows complete disrespect for her fellow church goers in that gitup.....
ReplyDelete