Tess Holliday slams tabloid for fat-shaming her while at Disneyland with her son

Model and mom Tess Holliday is calling out The Daily Mirror and The Daily Mail for intentionally publishing unflattering photos of her while she was enjoying a trip to Disneyland with her son.

After enjoying the day at the theme park with her family, Holliday is taking to Instagram to slam the tabloids for only publishing photos where she looks “tired” and is “eating food.”

“This week, I went to Disneyland with my family,” she captions a slideshow of photos of her at the park. “In the 10 hours I was there, I walked MILES, went on rides, and yea, ate some great food. The @dailymail & @dailymirror decided to share some paparazzi photos of me at my most tired and only in the moments when I was eating food.”

She made it a point to share that there was no shortage of sweet, delightful, happy moments of her enjoying her time at Disney with her family—but that these British tabloids went out of their way to commit to a fat-shaming narrative. She also calls out the double standard of people with smaller bodies vs. those whose bodies don’t fit the societal standard of “thin.”

“Ever notice how smaller bodied public figures can eat whatever they want and somehow that’s either ignored or seen as cute?! ” she continues. “They showed the version of me that THEY want the world to see: a fat person eating and being tired. How that’s newsworthy is beyond me when there’s things worthy of coverage not getting attention “

In order to take back control of the narrative (aka reality), Holliday says she’s using her platform to not just call attention to the problematic elements of the tabloids’ stories, but to draw attention to the fact that she actually had a joyful day at Disneyland with her child. For every paparazzi photo she shares, she adds a sweet family photo from her own collection of pictures from that day.

“When the media shares photos of me through the lens of their fatphobic assumptions, they tell everyone who looks like me that they are worthless,” she writes. “When they create a breeding ground for body shaming comments, they create a swamp where hatred of others and of ourselves can grow. It’s just not productive—if we want to live in a better, kinder world, we need to reject this kind of harmful behavior.”

She’s absolutely right. My own pants size is in the double digits, so does that mean that if I want to go to a theme park with my young daughters, I don’t have the right to be tired? To eat delicious theme park snacks? It sounds ridiculous when you put it into perspective, doesn’t it? (If it doesn’t, it should.) You certainly wouldn’t see a tabloid shaming Heidi Klum for eating ice cream with her kids at Disneyland, so it’s not OK for them to do it to someone whose body isn’t like Heidi Klum’s. Ever.

Holliday also speaks up for the fat community because something like this just serves as a reminder that fat people are marginalized—even in 2021, even among all the body acceptance and body positivity are more prevalent than usual.

“To my community of fat folks/those that struggle with your body image: y’all are seen, valued, and appreciated just as you are RIGHT NOW. We live joyful, active, and fulfilling lives… just like everyone else,” she concludes. “No matter who you are or what you look like, no matter what you can do with your body or how you choose to dress, y’all are worthy of love. Don’t let morons like the @dailymirror / @dailymail or anyone else tell you otherwise. #effyourbeautystandards.”

We love her for not only calling them out but for using her platform to educate her followers about why this was wrong and how it makes her and other fat people feel. Great job, mama.

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