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Woman Turns Body-Shaming Logic On Its Head In Just 4 Photos

Woman Turns Body-Shaming Logic On Its Head In Just 4 Photos
Sara Petty, 20, is shutting down body-shamers, one tweet at a time.
Sara Petty Twitter
Sara Petty, 20, is shutting down body-shamers, one tweet at a time.

One young woman has had enough with being told that only women with a certain (read: thin) body type should be able to wear certain items of clothing. So she used four photos and Twitter to shut that bullshit down.

Sara Petty, a 20-year-old student at Bowling Green State University from Sunbury, Ohio, noticed people on Twitter commenting about what women of a certain weight should and shouldn't wear.

"I had seen a tweet from someone saying that 200-pound girls shouldn't wear bikinis," she told The Huffington Post. "I just did some quick searches and found a bunch of similar tweets, so I decided I could do my part to chip away at body-shaming however I could."

While the tweets were not directed at her, Petty didn't miss the cruelty behind them. So she decided to post her own photos on Twitter, taking on different versions of the same tired and ignorant thinking, and paired with one succinct message of empowerment.

One photo shows Petty in a bikini, one in leggings, one in short shorts and one in a crop top, all with the caption: "Girls: Wear whatever the hell you want."

Petty's message is twofold, promoting both overall female empowerment and specifically body positivity.

Sara Petty Twitter
Sara Petty Twitter
Sara Petty Twitter

"I hope women realize how important it is to stop tearing each other down and uplift each other," Petty wrote to HuffPost. "We have a lot going against us as women, we don't need other women against us, too."

"I also hope that girls are able to separate who they are from the number that shows up on the scale, and realize there is no number, high or low, that dictates if you're worthy of feeling beautiful," she wrote. "Body-shaming will probably always be there in some way, but I hope my post helps at least some women feel beautiful in spite of it."

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.