A primary school teacher from New Jersey has been harassed online by trolls who say her attire and Instagram account are "inappropriate."
The woman has almost a million followers on social media under the handle @toyboxdollz.
She posts edited pictures from inside and outside the classroom while always obscuring the children's identities.
The teacher responded to her critics in a video on Instagram Live, saying, among other things:
"I teach babies, and there are no haters in the classroom thinking of that."
The video is below.
Reactions were mixed, but most were in support of the teacher.
\u201c@_Booskerz @MDNnewss I'm surprised that the school dress code allows "leggings as pants." Otherwise, these complaints appear to be old school misogyny.\u201d— MDN NEWS (@MDN NEWS) 1661154523
\u201c@MDNnewss Is she qualified to be a teacher? Yes? Then what's the deal? She's dressed modestly.\u201d— MDN NEWS (@MDN NEWS) 1661154523
\u201c@MDNnewss I'm sick of this crap\nShe dresses appropriately\nShe's professional\nWhite men policing Black women's bodies is disgusting\nMen could be 100 pounds overweight, belly hanging out in ill-fitting clothes,come to work w/their "hair" looking like Berner & they're not being dissected\u201d— MDN NEWS (@MDN NEWS) 1661154523
Some focused on the double standards applied to women and how impossible—with this woman's body type—it would be to dress in any outfit at all and have it not be read by others as provocative.
It's just her body and she's put clothes on it to go to work.
\u201c@MDNnewss I don\u2019t understand what people mean by she must change her dress code? She\u2019s wearing jeans and a shirt, a long a\u00a3\u00a3 skirt and a top. Anything she wears, will take the shape of her body, unless y\u2019all want her to wear a sack\u201d— MDN NEWS (@MDN NEWS) 1661154523
\u201c@MDNnewss Smh - what does her body have to do with the work she does.\n\nSmh lol now people can\u2019t get jobs Cz they happen to be attractive \ud83e\udd26\ud83c\udffd\u200d\u2642\ufe0fwhat a time\u201d— MDN NEWS (@MDN NEWS) 1661154523
\u201c@MDNnewss No matter what this woman wears her shape is gone be shaping! Y\u2019all gone have to get over it.\u201d— MDN NEWS (@MDN NEWS) 1661154523
\u201c@MDNnewss That\u2019s so unfair. They want her to wear a tent smh. She\u2019s built like that and no matter what she puts on, you\u2019re going to see her shape. I hate when people do that to curvy women because of their own insecurities.\u201d— MDN NEWS (@MDN NEWS) 1661154523
People were salty about the "mothers" who allegedly criticized the teacher.
\u201c@MDNnewss Women will always be each other's enemies...how does her body affect how she does her job\u201d— MDN NEWS (@MDN NEWS) 1661154523
\u201cOk, so, I saw the art teacher's Instagram and like, she's hot but, I mean, why are these moms so mad at someone who is clearly out of their husbands' league?\u201d— Christian H. Morales (@Christian H. Morales) 1661641011
Others called out fathers.
\u201c@MDNnewss @Leversmanganye Problem begin when fathers fought to collect kids at school, then mothers knew that "teacher voluptuous" is an inspiration behind fathers going to school.\n\nMothers are not fighting for children but fathers of their children.\u201d— MDN NEWS (@MDN NEWS) 1661154523
\u201c@MDNnewss If those kids at that age are sexualizing their teacher then the parents need to look in a mirror. Replace "students" with "Fathers" and we'll have the real story \ud83e\udd23\u201d— MDN NEWS (@MDN NEWS) 1661154523
\u201c@MDNnewss We all know what really happened was someone caught their husband looking at this lady\u2019s instagram or caught their husband starring at her at kid pick up/drop off and instead of checking their husband they decided to go after this woman\u201d— MDN NEWS (@MDN NEWS) 1661154523
The teacher addressed this commentary on her Instagram posts.
She defended women as a whole, addressing those who commented on the commenters:
"The majority of people that I see defending me on comments are women."
And a fellow teacher noted the impossible standards for women teachers.
\u201c@MDNnewss So in addition to buying our own supplies (including air conditioners), feeding hungry kids, & buying our own internet for the school house, we gotta be skinny????\u201d— MDN NEWS (@MDN NEWS) 1661154523
Regardless of any controversy, the teacher is excited to go back to school soon.
She said she's going to pick up some good activities for her new kindergarteners. Many have never been to school before and she's excited to teach them art.
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