Fatphobia is rampant in popular culture.
It's nothing new, with a history dating back to the turn of the 20th century, when fatness was swapped with thinness as a sign of wealth in the upper-class.
Fat-shaming shows up everywhere—with young girls the age of eight and young boys the age of five, all the way up to celebrities like James Corden and Lizzo.
Now, it shows up as body shaming of women on dating apps like Bumble, where women are given the power to message matches first.
Florence Simpson shared her firsthand experience with fatphobia on the app. Her honesty resulted in the offender, Ben, getting banned by the app entirely.
She tweeted:
Don\u2019t you just love men \n\nNo judging my opening question okay it normally gets hilarious responses!pic.twitter.com/i9GHtAuKSY— Flo\ud83c\udf3b (@Flo\ud83c\udf3b) 1621703750
In her opening line, Simpson said:
"OK, picture this. You're off to big Tesco & ask if I want anything. I say 'surprise me.' What are you bringing home?"
Ben replied with a single word:
"Slimfast."
Why consciously match with someone to harass them for their size and waste both people's time?
I would like to reiterate as some people don\u2019t seem to understand. I do not care if he doesn\u2019t find my body type attractive. I care that he consciously chose to match with me just to be rude to me— Flo\ud83c\udf3b (@Flo\ud83c\udf3b) 1621757065
Many women shared their own stories of fatphobia as well as their opinion of Ben.
Wouldn\u2019t he have had to like your profile to match as well? Makes me sick how men think it\u2019s okay to treat women like this. I get so many awful things sent me and when I say I\u2019m not looking for just fun they try and convince me that\u2019s what I want and get pissy when I say f-off!— Tropic with Claire (@Tropic with Claire) 1621713149
I matched with a guy, started chatting, he asked me to go for a coffee and then made a fat joke about me to my face. As if he didn\u2019t know what I looked like when he asked me out. It\u2019s honestly baffling.— LittleHamo (@LittleHamo) 1621754620
That's absolutely disgusting. I'm so sorry he said those things to you. I don't know where some men get off thinking they can say things like that.pic.twitter.com/kUA5LKvaey— \ud835\udd77\ud835\udd86\ud835\udd9a\ud835\udd97\ud835\udd86 \u2765\ufe0e\ud83c\udf39 (@\ud835\udd77\ud835\udd86\ud835\udd9a\ud835\udd97\ud835\udd86 \u2765\ufe0e\ud83c\udf39) 1621778670
He\u2019s not even worth a trip to big Tesco. More like a little Lidl or something— harriet\ud83d\udc81\ud83c\udffc\u200d\u2640\ufe0f (@harriet\ud83d\udc81\ud83c\udffc\u200d\u2640\ufe0f) 1621712664
Lidls bakery is too good.. More like a shit corner shop— Abs\ud83d\udc51 (@Abs\ud83d\udc51) 1621713302
Will always infuriate me seeing how some men and women have the audacity to speak with such disrespect to others, unprovoked. Hope this doesn\u2019t change the love you have for yourself, as long as you\u2019re happy within yourself then that\u2019s all the beauty you need.— Rhys Tunstall (@Rhys Tunstall) 1621759547
Absolutely fantastic opening line. Grotesque and pathetic response— Meggy G \u2728 (@Meggy G \u2728) 1621703924
Best opener ever. Also a one word (AWFUL) reply? Come on mate, this is big Tesco\u2019s.— Chloe Tomalin - Marketing Creative Consultant (@Chloe Tomalin - Marketing Creative Consultant) 1621716152
Honestly why match with you When I was a teenager we were doing secret Santa in class and it got round that the boys were gonna buy me slimfast if any of them got me— Ellen (@Ellen) 1621771461
Some men like everyone and then unmatch or ignore according to what they like. A lot of people use dating apps as mini ego boosts which results in disgusting behaviour like this— LoneWolf (@LoneWolf) 1621781041
Yeah I met someone that openly admitted to swiping on everyone then making a decision after matches, I just thought what a waste of people\u2019s time— Steph (@Steph) 1621835832
Though, one bright side was many people got a new opening liner they could use.
This is a brilliant opening question that I am 100% gonna use!!— Becca Wheddon (@Becca Wheddon) 1621807525
This is SUCH A GOOD opening question!!! Flo these men do not deserve your time of day xxx— STAR HOLROYD (@STAR HOLROYD) 1621752503
oh my god the opening line - so good lol— Katy Farmer (@Katy Farmer) 1621706578
Men are grim! Thats a cracking opening message though xxx— Lauren-Ashleigh \u2661 (@Lauren-Ashleigh \u2661) 1621704551
Simpson also got a response from Bumble.
The company said they are removing Ben for his horrid behavior.
Hi Flo! We're so sorry this happened. Rude and abusive behavior is never acceptable in the Hive, and we want you to know we've got your back. Our team has located this user's profile and blocked him from our platform. \n\nIf you have any questions, please feel free to DM us.— bumble (@bumble) 1622055655
This is AMAZING! Thank you so much— Flo\ud83c\udf3b (@Flo\ud83c\udf3b) 1622056498
Thankfully, Ben will not see another day body shaming women on Bumble, but this definitely isn't the last time we will see a story like this until fatphobia and body shaming is no longer accepted.