Presidential candidate Donald Trump has been under fire recently over some remarks he has said in the past about former Miss Universe winner, Alicia Machado. Machado won the Miss Venezuela pageant in 1995 and the Miss Universe pageant in 1996.
“Fat shaming is the act of criticizing and harassing overweight people about their weight or eating behavior”
Machado experienced Donald Trump’s vicious words first hand. “He called me Miss. Piggy,” she said in an interview with The Huffington Post. His words had a lasting effect on her causing her to suffer from anorexia and bulimia for five years. To cope with this, Machado has seen multiple psychologists.
Machado, however, was not the only 1996 Miss Universe contestant to experience Donald Trump’s harsh words. Jodie Seal, who was the Miss Austria contestant in the 1996 Miss Universe pageant, also had comments made about her by Donald Trump.
“He said to me, ‘suck your stomach in, or suck your gut in,” Seal said in an interview with The Huffington Post. Seal also mentions that he put a lot of the girls in the 1996 Miss Universe pageant down.
From 1996 to 2015, Donald Trump owned 50 percent of the Miss Universe organization which included the Miss Universe pageant, the Miss USA pageant, and the Miss Teen USA pageants. In 2015, Donald Trump owned 100 percent of the Miss Universe organization, only to turn around and sell it to current owner Paula Shugart.
Fat shaming, however, does not just happen to those in the spotlight and is often hidden by those affected by it. Social media is responsible for a large amount of fat shaming that happens. Social media allows users to remain anonymous which leads them to say thing they usually would not if their name or identity was attached to it.
Summer is the time when girls and guys are wearing bathing suits for most of the season and posting pictures with their friends at the beach or lake on social media. This is when fat and body shaming is at its highest. It is very easy for someone to make an anonymous or catfish profile and comment mean things on others posts’.
A trend that has been going around social media for a while now is #BodyPosi. Under #BodyPosi, there are pictures of mostly girls, however there are a few pictures of males, posting pictures in their swimsuits or little clothing. The whole idea of this hashtag is to show confidence and that they are happy with who they are no matter what their body looks like.
