Particularly since the pandemic, self-care and exercise have been rising trends on social media. Among the trends has been a new wave of women weight-lifting for muscular gains, as well as gains in confidence and mental health.
Unfortunately, some people haven't gotten behind the idea of women weight-lifting, insisting that women will get "too bulky."
But one TikToker, who goes by "Muscle Mommy," decided she didn't care about the perspective of those who saw weight-lifting as a negative for women.
Muscle Mommy regularly posted on her TikTok account, demonstrating her muscular gains, like in this one:
In this particular video, Muscle Mommy can be seen posing in a gym setting, modeling her well-defined biceps, triceps, shoulders, and thighs. It was clear from this video and others like it that this TikToker wasn't one to skip leg day.
While many people admired her videos, there were those who felt the need to point out their distaste and the fact that they didn't find her body type to be attractive.
Eventually, Muscle Mommy posted a video that responded to a common critique:
"You're pretty, but I don't like muscular girls."
Holding her hands together in the shape of a heart, she slowly separated her hands to indicate a breaking heart, before flipping the camera off with both hands.
No matter how frequent they might be, Muscle Mommy clearly did not care about such negative comments.
You can watch the video here:
Some responded directly to the statement about muscular girls that Muscle Mommy was refuting.
@musclemommyy/TikTok
@musclemommyy/TikTok
@musclemommyy/TikTok
@musclemommyy/TikTok
@musclemommyy/TikTok
Others theorized that such negative comments were made as a form of deflection and insecurity.
@musclemommyy/TikTok
@musclemommyy/TikTok
@musclemommyy/TikTok
@musclemommyy/TikTok
We're absolutely all allowed to have preferences and traits that we find attractive, especially when we're thinking about opening ourselves up to dating. However, whatever our preferences are, those should remain private, and they absolutely should not be used as a tool to degrade and tear down someone else's image.
Body positivity begins with self-expression, self-love, and inclusion, and it can only win if people are allowed to do what makes them happiest and healthiest, whether or not it makes them the most attractive candidate to every other person watching.
