Pregnant woman’s Facebook response to body-shamers is perfection
Katie Fehrlinger is the meteorologist at CBS 3 Philly, which means that thousands of people see her on their television screens every morning as she delivers on-air weather reports. But recently, she’s been receiving a ton of hateful comments for something that is actually absolutely beautiful: she’s 35 weeks pregnant with twin girls. We know, we know — how could anyone possibly be trolled about something so wonderful? But sadly, some jerks are body-shaming Katie because of her baby bump. Ugh.
Katie recently took to Facebook to put those haters in their place. She posted a beautiful picture of herself holding her belly with an empowering and amazing caption that also served as a lesson for the people who have been body-shaming her.
“So, the nature of my job makes me an easy target for criticism,” she wrote. “I will always understand that, and I will most typically just ignore it. However, after someone blatantly called me a ‘sausage in casing’ and another declared that ‘sticking your pregnant abdomen out like that is disgusting’, I felt a need to draw a line and speak up.”
First, Katie addressed the negative people who have been calling her such cruel names. “Everyone’s right to their opinion is important, but so are manners,” she wrote. “And while rude comments like these will never make me feel the need to change anything about myself, I find a bigger underlying issue here. These particular nasty-grams were directed at a pregnant woman.”
Then, she turned the conversation to moms of all kinds. “So this little manifesto of sorts is dedicated to every mother out there — other pregnant moms-to-be, moms reading this while their toddlers play on the swing set, moms whose kids have long since gone off to college. . . You are beautiful.”
Yep, we’re getting a little teary. But that’s not where it ends. “Even during the most uncomfortable — and let’s face it, less than glamorous — symptoms of pregnancy, what women go through to bring their precious children into the world is, simply put, AMAZING and you should be lauded,” Katie continued.
Every single one of those hateful comments, as well as the aches and pains of pregnancy, is worth it for her two baby daughters. “Frankly, I don’t care how ‘terrible’ or “inappropriate” anyone thinks I look,” she wrote. “I will gladly gain 50 pounds & suffer sleepless, uncomfortable nights if it means upping my chances to deliver 2 healthy baby girls. Now it’s about more than aesthetics. I want these babies to have the best start possible. And that hopefully means my belly that ‘looks like it’s about to explode!’ will continue to grow the next few weeks.”
To conclude, she raised a virtual toast to the moms of the world. “I say let’s raise a Shirley Temple to swollen feet, stretch marks, nausea, all the extra pounds and the dark circles! They’re badges of motherhood,” she continued. “And for those of you who think that’s “disgusting”, remember a woman went through the very same thing to bring YOU into the world. In the meantime, let’s all remember the lesson Mom taught us — if you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all.”
Quick, someone give that woman a mic to drop, because that was amazing. And clearly, we’re not the only ones who think so. The post has been shared over 2,600 times and liked by over 31,000 people. Women have been taking photos of their baby bumps and sharing them to social media with the hashtag #CBS3, and the network has been sharing those photos on the program.
“For me, when I wrote this post on Facebook it was more just for me to have a cathartic moment. . . and then all of a sudden, it just exploded,” Katie told CBS about her Facebook post. “And I think it’s because this is the most relatable thing in the world. We’re all here because our mom went through this journey to have us. I can’t say it enough, I’m so grateful for all the support.”
Check out the video of her talking on air about her experience. You go, Katie! We think you look absolutely radiant, and thank you for sticking up for moms and women everywhere.
(Image via Facebook)
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