Tanis Jex-Blake a fat shamed mother of five who came to be mocked because of stretch marks whilst at the beach has gotten her special brand of revenge after local radio station Hot 107 Edmonton shared a post defending herself on its Facebook page. The post perhaps not surprisingly has now gone viral, with many applauding the mother for standing her ground.
At the time, Tanis Jex-Blake of Alberta, Canada recalls the group had started ‘pointing, laughing and pretending to kick me’ as she attempted to sunbathe in public in a bikini for the first time since giving birth to her first child 13 years ago.
The 33-year-old has now received messages of support from across the world after the post was shared widely on the social media site.
Wrote the mother of five children: “This is an open letter to the 2 guys and 1 girl who decided to skip work today in Sherwood Park where they were building a house, but instead decided to come to Alberta Beach to relax in the sun, enjoy the water and some beers.
I’m sorry if my first attempt at sun tanning in a bikini in public in 13 years “grossed you out”. I’m sorry that my stomach isn’t flat and tight. I’m sorry that my belly is covered in stretch marks. I’m NOT sorry that my body has housed, grown, protected, birthed and nurtured FIVE fabulous, healthy, intelligent and wonderful human beings. I’m sorry if my 33 year old, 125 lb body offended you so much that you felt that pointing, laughing, and pretending to kick me. But I’ll have you know that as I looked at your ‘perfect’ young bodies, I could only think to myself “what great and amazing feat has YOUR body done?”. I’ll also have you know that I held my head high, unflinching as you mocked me, pretending that what you said and did had no effect on me; but I cried in the car on the drive home. Thanks for ruining my day. It’s people like you who make this world an ugly hateful place. I can’t help but feel sorry for the women who will one day bear your children and become “gross” in your eyes as their bodies change during the miraculous process of pregnancy. I can only hope that one day you’ll realize that my battle scars are something to be proud of, not ashamed of.”
The letter has now received hundreds of messages of support after local radio station Hot 107 Edmonton shared the post on its Facebook page.
Ultimately what’s perhaps most intriguing is society’s ever conscious regard for image and to what lengths it’s willing to adulate those who come to reflect preferred body images and to what extent society is willing to castigate or negate those of us who fail to meet preferred scripts.
Which poses the question, how did such a deeply personal issue of how one chooses to look (whether by choice or by aging, or by giving birth, or by defect) become such a public exercise of acceptance or denial…?
U go girl.
I’d tell them to kiss my ass and that I earned everyone of these stretch marks.