Body shaming is a sad part of online culture nowadays. With so many people putting themselves out there, commenters feel the need to pick apart everything. And no matter how good a someone looks, they aren’t immune from criticism. Take in point Teddi Mellencamp.
The former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star recently hit the red carpet at the MTV Movie & TV Awards. And immediately faced online backlash for her body. As reported by People, after showing off her legs in a short hot pink fringe dress, haters took to social media to attack Teddi for having….cellulite. Yes, cellulite. Something that approximately 80-90% women have somewhere on their body, regardless of weight.
So Teddi took to her Instagram account to address it. She used an image of herself from the event, posing proudly with the back of her legs on full display. Teddi began her caption, “For anyone messaging me that I shouldn’t have worn this dress to @mtvawards because you can see my cellulite. Guess what?! I am proud of it and most of us have it. Let’s normalize the reality.”
She added, “I work hard for my mental and physical body to feel good.” As for those hating on her dress, she continued, “(For those messaging that the outfit looks like I am auditioning for DWTS — you aren’t wrong. It does).”
Teddi, who runs a suspect weight loss program, isn’t new to the body critics. She recently revealed that she got a neck lift. And people weren’t happy about it. Teddi wrote of the surgery,“I have always comfortable with my neck in the front. It’s the side profile that has always made me feel insecure.” She added photos of herself from the front and sides.
One user took the time to DM her thoughts about it and slammed Teddi. The wrote, “Ur a public figure trying to help women loose [sic] weight yet your [sic] getting a face lift to remind those of us who need one who can’t afford one how ugly we are Thanku.”
Teddi reposted the DM and responded, “I am being transparent with my journey. Would you prefer I lie and pretend the loose skin on my neck disappeared? That’s not who I am. You want to only follow people that show themselves through a filtered version of themselves then I am not the person to follow.” She also noted that her neck lift had nothing to do with “going all in on your life.” Teddi asked her followers, “Do you appreciate me being open about my journey or would you rather I just pretend I did nothing?”
Well, we might appreciate her being open about her procedures, but it’s hard to understand someone preaching body positivity while running a program that costs thousands of dollars with some reportedly questionable practices. Of course, that doesn’t mean Teddi deserves to be body shamed. No one does. But body positivity should encompass ALL bodies. Not just thin ones that happen to have cellulite, like most women do.
But Teddi obviously doesn’t see it that way. She said of the backlash regarding her weight loss program, “If it’s something you want to do and you want us to hold you accountable to your goals, we are there to do that for you. If it’s not something you want to sign up for, you don’t.”
TELL US – WHAT DO YOU THINK OF TEDDI’S RESPONSE? HAS ONLINE CULTURE BECOME MORE CRITICAL REGARDING APPEARANCE?
[Photo Credit: Fernanda Calfat/Getty Images]